


What the Hell!

by VampireVampyre



Category: Assassin's Creed
Genre: Comedy, Humor, Romantic Comedy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-07-07
Updated: 2014-09-07
Packaged: 2018-02-07 20:44:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 33,356
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1913202
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VampireVampyre/pseuds/VampireVampyre
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Abby was enjoying her summer when all of a sudden...BAM the whole Auditore family is slap bang in the middle of her living room. Now she has a rather unexpected summer to cope with. Gradual Ezio/OC IMPORTANT: THIS WORK IS BEING RE-WRITTEN AS THE STORY MALFUNCTION, PLEASE READ THAT</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Where it began

**Author's Note:**

> Note: All German translations are from Google Translate BUT have been modified by fluent speakers of German so should be accurate.
> 
> All Italian translations, however, are approximate and have come from Google Translate - unfortunately.
> 
> Thoughts by Abby are in Italics
> 
> P.S This work was written a while ago but I have yet to find time to edit it. Feel free to let me now if I have made a grammatical error somewhere!

Okay so I think I should start off by introducing myself. My name is Abby Jones, I am 20 years old and I live with my older brother Ben in Southwold, England. I know it sounds creepy but hey, I don't have the money to get my own place. Oh and my brother isn't that bad… usually.

I'm not that big of a video game fan; my brother on the hand has an Xbox and all of the latest games. His current favourite at the time was the Assassins Creed series. While he sits there playing his games on his beloved Xbox (when he's not at work), I'm sitting at the piano or strumming my guitar. I had recently completed my Music degree and I have had a passion for music for years before.

When it happened I was playing some of my favourite music on my piano and Ben, as usual, was playing one of the Assassins Creed games on his Xbox. I could hear his annoyed shouts over the harmonic sounds of my piano.

"No don't do that!"

"Oh come on Ezio, don't be such a noob!"

"Minstrel if you don't go away I swear I will-"

_Shouting at fictional characters? Come on why do you have to do that when I'm trying to play?_

I tried to ignore it and carried on playing. It worked for a while but then one shout was louder than the rest.

"NO DON'T DIE ON ME NOW XBOX!"

I sighed and stopped playing, my tune cut off midway through. I wandered across the upstairs landing and into his room where he was cursing loudly.

"Ben, I could you hear you shouting at fictional people from across the hall now please… SHUT THE HELL UP. Thanks." I said leaning on the doorway.

"My Xbox just died on me." He said whimpering like a 3 year old child instead of the adult he was.

"Then go out with your mates, you have loads. It's the middle of summer for god's sake, go to the beach!" The beach wasn't too far away from our house and that day was very sunny and boiling hot. Mum and Dad had moved up to Scotland a few years back so they let us stay in the house as long as we paid rent.

"Fine, I'll go see if Jenny will meet me at the pier. Call me if you die or something." Jenny was his long-term girlfriend; she was the only one who could get Ben off of his Xbox. I have tried lots and failed lots.

"Will do, tell Jenny I said hi" I said as he walked past me and went downstairs.

" 'Kay." He called back just before I heard the front door close. I smiled at the empty house and walked over to his Xbox.

"I should fix this before he gets back, at least then he will stop annoying me and get back to shouting at his lack of gaming skills." I turned it on then gasped in surprise as it started to glow brightly. I thought he'd just made it red ring of death.

"What the?" I said and just as I did the glow subsided and it returned back to normal.

"Maybe I just imagined it." Then I heard the sounds of many people speaking at the same time in a strange language coming from downstairs. My heart started pumping faster than ever.

_That's funny, I didn't hear anyone downstairs before. Maybe they're burglars? Well if they are they're pretty cocky to be striking in the middle of the day. And their voices sound foreign, not that that's not uncommon, but it doesn't sound like a language I've heard around here before._

I quickly looked around Ben's room for something to use as a weapon if the people were burglars.

_Why isn't there a crowbar or a baseball bat around when you need one?_

I had to make do with a large-ish piece of bed pole that used to belong to Ben's old bed. I crept silently down the stairs. I pressed myself to the wall next to the ajar living room door. I heard something smash.

" _Merda!_ " I heard a young male voice, late teens, say and judging by the way he said it, it was a swear word of some sort.

" _Attenzione_!  **(Be careful )** " I heard a female voice say. The voice sounded a lot older and wiser than the previous one so I guessed the woman was the mother or something like that.

" _Dove siamo?_   **(Where are we)** " said a child like voice, and I guessed they were ten, maybe younger.

" _In una casa_   **(In a house)** " said a young woman, much younger than the other woman,  _maybe the other's daughter?_ sarcastically.

" _Ho capito che_.  **(I gathered that)** " said a much older male, he sounded experienced and wise,  _maybe him and the older woman were related_.

" _Non lo so_   **(I do not know)** " said yet another young male, except this one sounder older than the other late teenage one.

_Wow my brain hurts!_

I gathered up the confidence to peek into the room.

There six people in total, 4 men and 2 women. The youngest male was around the age that I guessed, nine or ten, then the second youngest male and the youngest female looked around my age and the second oldest male looked around Ben's age. The oldest man and woman looked to be around forty and they were all dressed very strangely. They all looked similar so I had guessed correctly that they were related. Then everything clicked.

The strange language, the weird clothing, them suddenly appearing in the living room, the Xbox acting weirdly. They were Assassin's Creed characters and the Xbox had sent them here. Then someone decided to text me and my ringtone started blasting away at full volume.

"Shit!" I said as they all turned towards the door. They had spotted me.

"Aspetta! Uno momento signora  **(Wait! One moment ma'am)** " said the second oldest. I dropped the pole and backed away from the door and quickly sprinted up the stairs, slamming my bedroom door sliding down it panting heavily. I heard footsteps coming up the stairs and voices outside my door.  _How could this have happened?_

" _Signora_?" said the second oldest hammering on my door. I really didn't want to face their questions, hell I didn't even know if they spoke English.

"  _Federico, calma_!  **(Federico, calm it/calm down)** " said the oldest male outside my door and the hammering stopped. " _Lei è probabilmente molto spaventato in questo momento_.  **(She is probably very scared right now)** "

" _Abbiamo appena apparso nella sua casa, abbiamo bisogno di spiegare che si intende nulla di male_.  **(We have just appeared in her house, we need to explain that we mean no harm.)** " said the oldest woman.

" _Signora, non abbiamo intenzione di farti del male o di vostra proprietà, ma potresti dirci come siamo arrivati qui?_   **(Madam, we are not going to hurt you or your property but could you tell us how we got here?)** " said the elder man again in a much more formal and calm voice.  _Abigail, müssen Sie stark sein und nehmen diese wie die starke Person ich weiß du bist._   **(Abigail, you must be strong and take this as the strong person I know you are)**  I heard my father's encouraging but strict and powerful voice echo through my head. I don't think I've mentioned this but both my parents are from Germany. They moved here after they got married and they have loved it ever since. Our parents insisted that we speak in German to them at all times (unless in public or if either me or Ben had friends over), I think it's because they think it's good to know our ancestor's language but to also have the skill of another language. So ever since we were little, Ben and I have spoken in German and English. We also made up this thing after mum and dad moved out where if we were in trouble or it was something private or important, we spoke in German to each other. I felt the tension as the video game characters waited for my response.

"Do any of you speak English? I have no idea what you just said" I asked, and I really hoped they did otherwise it was going to be a really long day. I pulled out my phone and texted my brother. _'Ben, jetzt kommen wieder! Es ist ein Notfall! Aber bitte nicht in das Haus, draußen zu warten. Ich meine es! Danke Abby_   **(Ben, come back now! It's an emergency! But not in the house, wait outside. I mean it! Thanks Abby.)** '

"Yes, almost all of us do. Why don't you speak Italian?" said the second oldest. Once the text was sent, I got up and opened the door and letting some cool air into the sweltering room. They looked at my clothes in a look of shock and disgust though there was a hint of something in the two older boys' eyes that made we want to shudder.

"Because we are not in Italy." I said bluntly, I knew they would want to know. "Oh and the year is 2011"


	2. New Friends and German

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note: All German translations are from Google Translate BUT have been modified by fluent speakers of German so should be accurate.
> 
> All Italian translations, however, are approximate and have come from Google Translate - unfortunately.
> 
> Thoughts by Abby are in Italics
> 
> P.S This work was written a while ago but I have yet to find time to edit it. Feel free to let me now if I have made a grammatical error somewhere!

Once everyone had calmed down from their major panic attacks (apart from the little one who I don't think spoke English and was looking confused) I lead them back down stairs and into the living room. The little one was pulling on his mother's weird but fancy dress and asking something in Italian. She looked nervous but told him something. He was confused at first then his eyes lit up in wonder.

"Magnifico!"

Even I didn't need a translator for that. I was glad someone was enjoying this. As I lead them back into the living room, I noticed that the vase full of flowers that had been on the table had mysteriously disappeared. Then I remembered the smash so I sighed and got out the dustpan and brush and cleared up the mess that one of the men had made. He apologised of course (with a little help from his parents) but I also got the impression he was trying to flirt with me as well.  _If he doesn't stop I swear I will…_

After clearing up the mess and getting refreshments I headed back from the kitchen and into the crowded living room. Everyone had tried to cram onto our fairly large sofa but it looked very uncomfortable so I got a chair from the kitchen and sat down offering the smaller loveseat to some of our (very) unexpected guests. The youngest woman and the second oldest man took the seats gratefully.

"Okay so I know I didn't really introduce myself earlier so I apologise for that. My name is Abby and I live here with my brother Ben. Our parents are German and are currently living in Scotland – a country to the north of England." I said to all of them as formally as I could. I didn't know if they knew where Germany was (I forgot when it was founded), but they didn't ask. The little one was looking at me intently, lapping up each word even though he couldn't understand them.

"Nice to meet you Abby." The father said smiling politely at me. The eldest son translated to the youngest. The father introduced the rest of the rather large family to me. The young boy was called Petruccio, the next eldest male was called Ezio ( _So that's who Ben was shouting at!_ ), then there was Federico who was around the same age as me and there was also Claudia who was the same age if not younger than Ezio. The father was called Giovanni and his wife was Maria.  _How am I going to remember all of these names?_

"It's nice to meet you all even though it was a bit unexpected."

"You don't know how we got here?" said Ezio confused.  _They all must've thought I held all the answers._

"No, I have no idea. But I think it has something to do with my brother." Just as I said that he knocked at the door.

"Abby! What's going on?" he shouted from outside.

"Hang on, I'm coming. Don't you dare come in!" I said getting up from my chair. "That's him now. Excuse me a minute." I explained then quickly grabbed my keys and shut burst out of the front door leaving the perplexed family in the living room.

"I got your text, what's the matter?" he said and I silently motioned for him to be quiet. He rased an eyebrow but I scowled and his closed his mouth.

"Deine Xbox hat gerade die Familie von deinem Assassin's Creed Spiel in unser Wohnzimmer transportiert und mich zu Tode erschrocken, dass ist passiert!  **(Your Xbox just transported the family from your Assassin's Creed game into our living room and freaked me the hell out that's what is going on!)** " I said quietly and angrily. Ben looked dumbstruck but he looked like he believed me.

"Wie konnte das passieren?  **(How could this happen?)** " he said still wide eyed, but understanding why I spoke in German. The living room window was open.

" Ich weiß nicht! Die Xbox hat angefangen zu leuchten und dann hab ich ihre Stimmen unten gehört!  **(I don't know! The Xbox started to glow and then I heard their voices downstairs!)** "

"Wait, you were in my room?"

I sighed and rolled my eyes. "You think that's the weirdest part?"

"No the other bit was pretty weird too but seriously. You. In. My. Room? That never happens unless you want something!"

"Okay first off, hey! Secondly, I was going to fix it before you came back actually. Oh and thirdly, do you really think I can't see you standing by the window?" I said glaring at the figures peeking through the window at us. I heard laughing and Ezio and Federico stepped away from the window. Ben looked shocked as he recognised Ezio and Federico.

"Du musst so tun als ob du sie kennen würdest!  **(You have to pretend that you don't recognise them!)** " I said blocking Ben's path into the house.

"Okay, okay!" he said and I unlocked the door and we both went back into the living room.

"This is my older brother Ben." I said introducing him. He waved awkwardly amazingly hiding his shock and happiness that they were  _actually_  here. After everyone had said hi, I introduced everyone to him unnecessarily but Ben played along nevertheless.

"Where you speaking in German out there?" Federico asked me earning a glare from his mother.

"Yeah I was. Our parents made us speak German around them." I replied glaring at him and Ezio for eavesdropping then smiling it off. The whole family must've heard our conversation. Petruccio spoke excitedly to me, completely forgetting that I didn't speak Italian. Maria smiled at him and kindly translated his eager words to me.

"He asked you if you and your brother could say something else in German. He found it really interesting."

I smiled at him and his mother then looked at Ben who looked like he would explode with happiness just like a child.

"Of course erm... Es ist schön jemanden an der deutschen Sprache interessiert zu sehen. Es ist eine ziemlich schöne Sprache wenn man erst einmal den Dreh raus hat.  **(It is nice to see someone interested in the German language. It is quite a beautiful language, once you get the hang of it.)** " I said while Ben and Maria translated.

" Vielleicht können wir dir ja bis zu einem gewissen Punkt einige Wörter beibringen. Wenn du möchtest? **(Maybe we could teach you some words at some point. If you want to?)** " Ben said smiling at Petruccio, I translated this time and when Maria told him he clapped then nodded.  _Looks like we've made a new friend already_.


	3. The TV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note: All German translations are from Google Translate BUT have been modified by fluent speakers of German so should be accurate.
> 
> All Italian translations, however, are approximate and have come from Google Translate - unfortunately.
> 
> Thoughts by Abby are in Italics
> 
> P.S This work was written a while ago but I have yet to find time to edit it. Feel free to let me now if I have made a grammatical error somewhere!

Everyone seemed to smile as a reaction to his and so a happy aura descended on all of us. It was a few moments before I looked at the clock and realised that we had virtually nothing left in the fridge and that I needed to go shopping for today's dinner right then. I jumped up and put my chair away in the kitchen before grabbing my bag and dashing into the hall.

"Why the rush Abby?" said Ben watching me hurriedly decided what shoes to wear.  _Awesome high heels versus practical but slightly grubby converses… Practical it is!_

"Unless you want to not have dinner tonight, I need to go to Tescos now!" I said tying the laces of my trainers.

"What are you making?"

"Homemade pizza."

"You could just ring Dominos."

"Nope." I said deterring his optimism in getting a takeaway. "I am not explaining  _that_  yet"

"True, do you have enough money?"

" I should have enough yeah, though I am running low."

"When are you getting more?"

"I dunno, you're the one who really works! Though I'm performing at a restaurant on Saturday though so I should get paid for that then." I said standing up and throwing my bag over my shoulder and wrenching open the door.

"Are you driving?"

"Nope, I'm gonna quickly walk there!"

"Okay, be careful."

"I will." And with that I all but sprinted down the street towards town. I knew that money would be even tighter with seven (!) more people to feed,  _maybe I'll have to get a job at Lisa's cafe..._

I got to Tescos in no time, grabbed a basket and soon filled it with the ingredients I need to make 3 or 4 pizzas.  _Heck I don't even know if they had pizza then!_ I went straight to self-service since I had no time to queue  _and_  get dinner ready in time.  _I guess me and Ben will have to eat in the living room. Speaking of which, they have no where to sleep either. Looks like I will be sleeping on the sofa!_  As I started scanning the items and putting them into the bags, I heard the familiar pitter-patter of rain on the metal roof of the supermarket. I groaned and looked through the large glass windows at the front of the store. It was chucking it down!  _Aw shit,_   _I have to walk home in that!_  I quickly paid my money and walked out of the automatic doors and into the downpour. I hadn't even thought to bring an umbrella with me since it had been a nice day.  _Up until now._ I looked up at the jet black clouds and sighed, it wasn't going to let up anytime soon. I decided to run all the way home through the torrent of rain and hope no-one sees my now not so straight hair. I hate having anything but straight hair; if I can't straighten it I put it all up and out of show. I slowly ventured away from the cover of Tescos and instantly stepped in a puddle getting my feet completely drenched,  _this just isn't my day!_  I sighed again but started my run back home.

I was just at the halfway point (and already extremely tired!) when Jenny pulled up in her car.

"Abby, oh my god your soaked! Do you want a lift hun?" she called out of her car window while concernedly eyeing my dripping clothes and heavy bags.

"Hey Jen, yes please; my hair's a mess!" I said while gratefully getting in the passenger seat of Jenny's little red VW beetle. "Sorry, I don't mean to get your seat wet!"

"Nah that's okay, anyway do you know why Ben left so early today?" Jenny said, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion on the subject.

"Sorry, that was my fault, we have some very...unexpected guests who are staying over so..."

"Oh okay, no worries, I was just a little confused. Is it okay if I meet them? Are they relatives of yours?"

"Yeah, they're our cousins. They came from Italy so they will be staying for a while."

"Italy? Wow, you have relatives from all over the place!" she said as we pulled up outside the house. "Okay here we are, see ya soon! Oh and tell Ben to call me whenever he has the chance."

"Yeah will do, see you soon Jenny." I said getting out of the car and making a dash for sanctuary in the lovely warm and dry house. Before I can get to the door, it opens and I dash inside without a second thought. Only after I have removed my wet shoes and coat and made sure that my hair is fully tied back (to be sorted out later) do I notice the chuckling Federico leaning against the door. I raised my eyebrows as I put my shoes away and my jacket on the radiator.

"What?"

"You look like you've just jumped into a river!" he said still chuckling.

"Yeah, thanks for the amazing compliment" I said layering my voice with lots of sarcasm. I don't think he got it because he looked a little confused. I rolled my eyes and muttered 'Seriously? No sarcasm?' before bending to get the quite heavy bags. Federico, however, beat me to it.

"Allow me." He said picking up the heavy bags with ease. I was a little shocked since no-one round here had that many manners to do that.

"Thanks." I said as I lead him to the kitchen. I couldn't help but smile at the fact that Ben was watching the TV with every one of our Italian guests' eyes (aside from Federico) glued to the screen.

"I see Ben has shown everyone the TV." I said to Federico in the kitchen while I unloaded the bags.

"The what?" he said shockedly,  _obviously Ben hasn't bothered to explain it to them yet!_

"The screen with the moving pictures and people on it is called a television or TV for short." I said before heading back into the television to explain the 'mysterious' object. When I got back in the living room with Federico, Giovanni was saying about how it was impossible while everyone else was still watching it.

"You haven't explained it Ben?" I said to him leaning against the doorframe after watching Federico join the debate about the TV's possibleness. Ben looked back at me and shrugged.

"It's hard to explain." He said before turning back to the TV. I sighed and rolled my eyes at his dedication to watching the programmes that I pay for (that's right its ME who has to pay the TV license and Sky which I do as well as rent!).

"That's right, just watch Sky while I explain the TV YOU seem to enjoy watching the most even though I pay for it!"

"Yeah but I pay for the internet and the electricity that YOU seem to enjoy using most."He retorted still not taking his eyes off of the TV. I laughed and gave in.

"All right, all right fair do's I'll explain it." I said before Ben did the herculean task of muting the TV while I explain it. When he did, he earned gasps from the Auditores –even Giovanni and Federico who had stopped arguing. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes and instead proceeded to explain how the TV works.

"Okay so the people on the screen actually aren't inside the screen at all. They were filmed acting this out ages ago and it is only just being broadcasted now. This programme is on everyone's TVs, well on this channel on their TVs right now as well. It is broadcasted all over the country via these machines that we have put in the sky. Okay?"

Everyone just gawped at me as if I had been speaking in an entirely different language. Claudia was translating everything to Petruccio as if it was the most exciting thing ever.

"I know it sounds weird and totally impossible but that's how it works." I said smiling reassuringly at them. They slowly thought about it and accepted my explanation as the truth. After that, I rushed upstairs to change out of my soaking clothes and into something dry and cosy. As I look quickly glanced at my reflection in my mirror, I noticed some loose strands were already really wavy. I sighed and quickly pinned them up before heading back down to start on dinner.


	4. The Piano and the Shower

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note: All German translations are from Google Translate BUT have been modified by fluent speakers of German so should be accurate.
> 
> All Italian translations, however, are approximate and have come from Google Translate - unfortunately.
> 
> Thoughts by Abby are in Italics
> 
> P.S This work was written a while ago but I have yet to find time to edit it. Feel free to let me now if I have made a grammatical error somewhere!

Fortunately everyone enjoyed the food.

Well I say that but Maria, Giovanni, Petruccio and I barely got a crumb with the boys around. They had such big appetites! We literally had two seconds to grab something before the boys tucked in. I was especially sad because I barely got any of my own special veggie pizza and I couldn't have much else since Ben practically took the margherita one for himself.

Luckily I had planned ahead, since I already knew about Ben's huge appetite, and had made one extra pizza for the rest of us to share so we didn't die of starvation.

Since the dining table was full, I sat in the living room and ate my scavenged pizza in peace. I even got to listen to music while the others talked/stuffed their faces. It was the busiest but most peaceful time I had had since the Auditores had arrived.

"Abs?" came a voice which, all too soon, interrupted my quiet.

"Yeah?" I called back, not bothering to get up to answer my brother - who had an annoyingly loud voice.

"Have you got anymore pizza?"

"No, you, Ezio and Federico ate practically all of it!" I replied and I heard a few chuckles at that.

"Oh." Came the dejected, and slightly embarrassed, reply from my brother and I had to smile at that.

"You could go get some more if you're still hungry. Tesos should still be open."

I waited for a minute for him to give me his reply, I already knew the answer.

"Nah I'm okay." he said and my smile got bigger.

"Thought so."

Once everyone else was finished, I took the plates and cooking stuff and washed up while Ben explained the brilliant invention, the shower.

_I'm glad I'm doing that, I'm no good at explaining stuff like that. Besides, Ben actually knows how it works!_

I was just about done when the first Auditores, Ezio and Federico came down from their showers dressed in some of Ben's PJs. It was a pretty funny sight to a) see them in modern clothes and b) in clothes that didn't fit them at all. Ezio's were too tight and Federico's were much too short in both to top and bottoms. I had to cover my mouth to hide my smile though by the way they looked at me, they knew.

"Sorry, I can get you some more soon that fit you better."

"It is alright, these will do for now." Federico said while looking down at the PJs with disapproval. Ezo didn't look pleased either but didn't say anything, he just gave me a smile to tell me that he was alright with them for now as well.

"What are we going to do tomorrow?" Ezio asked curiously, obviously he didn't like the idea of just sitting around like both Ben and I did.

"I have no idea, I don't really plan ahead and my ideas for tomorrow have kinda changed now that you guys are here." I said and it was cute to see the men look almost apologetic about that. "Don't worry about it, this wasn't your fault."

"If you are sure  _bella_." Ezio said sincerely and I gave him a reassuring smile.

"I am," I said just to end that subject. "right now, though, I have to figure out where you're all sleeping tonight."

The family house is a three bedroom which meant that three (or four, possibly five if shared) could sleep in those. My music room also has a camping bed tucked away in a cupboard in there so that made six. There was also the sofabed downstairs. Seven. After that I had no clue and there was one more person.

"I'm taking the sofabed!" Ben said, making me sigh as I realised the only other place was the cramped loveseat Ezio and Federico were currently sitting on.

"Can we do rock, paper, scissors? At least make it fair!" I said while trying not to sound like eight rather than twenty one.

Ben grinned and held his fist up as I held up mine.

"Okay, rock, paper, scissors... damnit!" I said as Ben beat me.

_I'm going to get so cramped on that little thing._

"Why don't you let your sister take the bed? She plans on graciously giving it to one of us  _without_  complaint" Ezio piped up and I think he was trying to get Ben to be a gentleman and let me have the nice, big, relatively comfy bed. That was a long shot, as the last part of Ezio's speech suggested,but Ezio's gentleman manners were also very sweet and adorable.

"Nah, I'm the oldest and I won fair and square so I'm having it." Ben said, proving my point. He even turned the sofa into the bed and laid down on it to taunt me. "Ahh, so comfy."

Ezio frowned, along with me, but Federico looked like he definitely agreed with Ben. I felt a little sorry for Ezio at that point.

"Don't worry about it Ezio," I said, trying to reassure him, and his gentlemanly ways, that I would be fine with the loveseat. "I'll be fine on the loveseat."

"Are you sure? I would think you would be rather cramped on that." he said, looking at the loveseat then at me with concern.

"Honestly Ezio, it's fine. Please drop it."

He was hesitant to but nodded and didn't say anything else about it.

"Do you have a husband or lover  _bella_?" Federico asked flirtily after everyone dissolved into silence and I was so surprised that I actually blushed. Ezio and Ben seemed as shocked as I was at his straightforward and seemingly random question.

"Actually I do," I said with a slight smirk after recovering from that shock. "I have a lover. His name's Danny and I've been with him for four years."

Surprisingly, Federico didn't seem bothered about rejection and instead continued to smile/smirk like he had been doing before.

"Ah of course, such a beautiful woman would not be available."

It took all I had not to let my jaw drop. I'd never seen someone brush off rejection so easily  _and_  he had technically flirted with me again too.

The look on Ben's face though was priceless. It was a mixture of sweet-line-man, dude-I-want-to-punch-your-face-in and oh-my-god all mixed into one hilarious expression.

Ezio just looked shocked as his brother was seemingly oblivious to our shock.

"What? Am I just too good looking that you all feel the need to stare?"

Normally that would have sounded cocky and arrogant but he said it jokingly so it was actually pretty funny. Smiles replaced our shock and we started laughing and joking around for awhile more.

"You gonna play your piano today Abs?" Ben asked when everyone else had arrived back from their lovely showers.

"You are going to play your  _quiet_?" Ezio said with a both confused yet amused too.

"Actually, I'm going to play my  _quiet loud_  since its full name is  _piano forte._   **(True story!)** "I said, slightly showing off my intelligence about my main instrument. I'm pleased to say that I got a few impressed looks after that (and an eyeroll from Ben).

"May we hear you?" Claudia asked politely though I could see she was very curious to see what it was.

"Of course," I said, happy to have a rare audience. "Follow me."

In around a minute or so, I was seated at my piano with the Auditores and my brother waiting expectantly as I thought about what I could play for them. In the end, I decided on a song from the French movie Amelie. It's called  _Comptine D'un Autre Ete_.

As my right hand starts playing, I hear Maria and Claudia gasp at the sight of me playing different rhythm with each hand as well as press the sustain pedal with my foot. I knew to them I probably looked very awesome and skilled. It just took a lot of practice to master.

"That is impressive." I heard Giovanni say and that made me smile with pride.

"I bet that is not the only thing her hands are good at- ah! Father!" I heard Federico say much too loudly since I heard it. I was definitely pleased that Giovanni had shut the stupid flirt up.

"If you insist on saying such things, and especially at such a volume and in proximity of her then I will smack you upside the head."

"Thanks Giovanni!" I say as the piece comes to a close.

"You are welcome Abby." he replied and I could feel the atmosphere fill with stifled laughs and the tension that comes along with that. I also guessed that Federico was a little embarrassed that I actually heard it.

"That was wonderful Abby," Maria said as I finished the piece completely and turned to face them, kinda blushing at the mini round of applause I also got. "It is a pity one of my sons did not appreciate it." That was teamed with a fierce look to Federico.

That was it, everyone in the room, bar Federico and Petruccio (who had no idea what was being said), burst into laughter at Federico's expense. After Petruccio was filled in, even he laughed too. This light and happy mood continued as I played other, more upbeat, songs and even as we all went to bed - me on the small loveseat.


	5. Tutoring and Cambridge

I was woke up at the usual time (6:00 am because I get at least three hours of peace before Ben gets up, though I knew it would be earlier because he was on the sofa). I moved slightly and flinched at my sore cramped muscles.

"Ow!"

I slowly sat up and stretched my aching muscles before standing up and heading to the kitchen to make myself the waker-upper that is coffee. Once I had drank my coffee and had woken up a bit more, I decided to creep upstairs to see if anyone else was awake. I looked in my room first and found Claudia fast asleep on my bed. I carefully looked in Ben's room (still not wanting to get too close to the Xbox even thought it was the other side of the room from me). They were still asleep too and I chuckled silently when I saw that Federico took Ben's bed and Ezio had to take the flimsy air bed.  _The eldest always wins… NOT IN THIS HOUSE!_  When one of them groaned and turned over, I backed out and shut the door because it would look more than a little bit pervy if they caught me watching them sleep. It could also give them the wrong impression,  _shut up brain shut the hell up!_  I didn't look in on Maria and Giovanni but I guessed that they were still asleep too.

I was going to miss out Petruccio since I assumed that he would be the most tired but before I could get to the stairs my music room door opened and Petruccio walked out onto the landing. He smiled at me then grabbed my hand and lead me back into the room and gently shut the door again. I was confused as to why he did that and how we were going to communicate without any of his family to translate but he didn't seem to mind. He gestured for me to sit down on the chair near to the piano then took my guitar from its stand under the window and pressed it into my hands. He then sat on the floor in front of me expectantly. It took me a moment to figure out that he wanted me to play my guitar for him. I nodded and smiled at him and shifted my position so that I could play better. I played 'Tug of War' by Carly Rae Jepsen making sure that my voice wasn't too loud just in case they heard me through the sound proofing. Occasionally I peeked up at him, all of the time I did he was watching me happily and sometimes swaying to the rhythm. Once I finished he clapped and stood up grinning widely,  _is he always happy?_ I put the guitar down and stood up.  _Guess I'd better make a start on teaching him some English and German since he actually wants to..._

I grabbed the chair I had just been sitting on and pulled it over to in front of the massive whiteboard that covered almost all of the wall with the door. I gestured for him to sit on it then got out my selection of multicoloured board markers. I divided it into thirds and drew an Italian flag in the first third, an English flag in the centre third and a German flag in the last third. I also got out my Macbook and loaded up Google translate. 

_This would be easier if another of the Italians was awake!_

I then wrote words like 'Hello', 'Goodbye', 'Please' and 'Thank you' in both languages on the board leaving the Italian column blank (I thought it would be good for me to learn some Italian at the same time.) I then got out a spare notebook and colour pens (I didn't know if he wanted to colour code or whatever) and handed them to him. I think he actually got what we were going to do because he eagerly copied down the columns and writing on the white board before looking at me again.

"Okay right, how am I going to do this?" I asked myself as I tried to figure out a way to do this so he could understand me. In the end, I resorted to talking normally and using sign language get the message across. Petruccio, thank god, understood alright and I managed to get him to memorise them in both languages in a little amount of time. He also helped me fill in the blanks in the Italian column and I made a self note to write those down later.

" _Grazie_  Abby" he said, and for once I knew that meant thank you, then bounced out of the room and I heard 'the boys' bedroom door open and close. 

 _Guess Ezio and Federico will be getting an early wake up call, guess I'd better get some more coffee ready._  

I decided to go downstairs, wake Ben up and start getting breakfast ready for everyone.

By the time all of the omelettes where cooked all of the boys (Italian or otherwise) were hovering around me eager to get their hands on the food.

"Guys if you insist on hovering around me like flies then you will be the last to eat, got it?" I said snapping at the eager eyes following me around the kitchen. When I turned round a few seconds later, they were all seated at the large dining table on the far side of the kitchen near the French windows leading out to the garden.

"Gees you guys are eager." I said rolling my eyes as I served up. I had woken up everyone else a few minutes ago and since a groggy eyed Claudia was about to murder me for waking her up, I decided that I would serve everyone else breakfast in bed.

"Ben, can you get the coffee?" I said as the coffee machine finished producing the life essence that kept me going throughout the day (not that I have a coffee addiction or anything).

"On it." He said grabbing the coffee pot and pouring it into seven different mugs (I don't think Maria and Giovanni would appreciate Petruccio being hyper for the next 48 hours) adding milk and sugar to everyone except mine. I got out four trays and place three ham and cheese omelettes (and one cheese one for me) on them and carried them two at a time, up the stairs. At the same time Ben was serving the boys downstairs. I first went into the master room and gave Maria and Giovanni their breakfast.

"You didn't need to do that." Said Maria politely as I handed her a tray of steaming food.

"Yeah I did, I didn't think you wanted to get up just to sit at a crowded table where four boys our shoving food down their throats." I said and Giovanni chuckled.

"They obviously like your cooking Abby." He said picking up his mug. "What is this?"

"That? Oh that's coffee, I think it came from the Middle East originally, I thought you might like to try it since it seems to be the only thing that wakes me up properly." I said smiling at them both. "If you don't like it then leave it, I won't mind after all it is very bitter and strange."

"Thank you Abby, for letting us stay here." He added as I was walking over to the door. I turned back to them and smiled.

"It's no problem, since my parents moved out we have plenty of space." I said leaving them to eat their breakfast in peace. I then returned downstairs and picked up mine and Claudia's food. The boys were already finished as expected but were still seated at the table.

"Abby?"

"Yes Ezio?"

"Did you sleep well last night?"

"Yeah I did, why?"

"Because when I came downstairs to explore your house more, you were lying in a position that I don't think was comfortable." He said, his eyebrows furrowing in concern. 

 _Oh my god, he is so polite bless him._  

Ben stopped sipping his coffee and looked at me guiltily.

"I was fine Ezio really, I wasn't cramped or anything." I said to him smiling at his gentleman like politeness. Ezio nodded still, I think, slightly unsure about the reality of my night.

I picked up the last two trays and walked cautiously back up the stairs. After having to wake Claudia up again (!), I handed her one of the two trays then I went and sat in the music room/Petruccio's room and had mine.

After picking up all of the trays and plates upstairs, I went around the house opening the curtains.

"Oh the lovely British weather" I said opening the living room curtains.

"It's still pissing down isn't it?" Ben said not taking his eyes off of yesterday's newspapers.

"Yep, and I have to go shopping in that."

"I thought you said you didn't have any money?" he asked as I quickly dashed into the hall and put on my wedges.

"Well..."  _That_  made him get up.

"No. No way."

"Please Ben, I am not getting paid until tomorrow night."

"I don't care, you aren't taking any of mine."

I did my best puppy dog look on him but he just turned away.

"Fine... I hate you."

"Seriously? Because I won't give you money you are acting like a five year old and now hate me."

"It's not like I am spending it on myself!" I said standing up satisfied with the extra height I had.

"Fine but seriously, this is the ONLY time okay?"

"Yay Ben you are the bestest brother ever!" I said hugging him tightly as he moved to get his wallet.

"Yeah yeah" he replied smiling as I let go of him and handed me 50 pounds.

"Where are you going?" Giovanniasked from the doorway as I grabbed my bag and car keys.

"I am going to Cambridge to get all of you guys some decent clothes." I said trying not to look at him since he was admiring my dress rather than looking at my face. "What?"

"You're going to go out in public like that?" he said eying the knee length hem.

"Uh yeah?"

"Uh-oh, looks like the fashion police are out to get you!" Ben muttered to me as I stared shocked at Giovanni. I punched him in the arm and opened the front door. Federico still didn't say anything but I could tell that he was looking at me with distaste again.

"Um, most girls shorts up to here on the beach." I explained showing him the height using my hand as the hemline. That made his eyebrows raise even more.

"So...uh...see you later."

"Wait, how far away is Cambridge?"

"About a couple of hours away by train."

"Train?"

"A form of transport."

"Shouldn't someone go with you?"

"Uh..." I still couldn't believe that he was lecturing me just like my own father would.

"I'll go." Ezio happily volunteered from the living room.

"I really-"

"Abby, just let him go with you." Said Ben actually agreeing with Giovanni.

"But-"

"Abby!"

"Fine, Ezio put some shoes on then meet me outside." As I walked out of the door, I distinctly heard an encouraging cheer from Federico. I shuddered a little but still walked over to the car. My phone beeped just as I opened the car door.

_Danny: Wht r u planning to do today?_

I frowned, I was planning to meet up with him today BEFORE the Italians messed with my life. I replied:

_Sorry, can't do anything today. Going to Cambridge, some cousins have turned up unexpectedly so have to get supplies._

"Abby?"

"Huh? Oh Ezio right, just get in the car and we'll get going"

"A car"

**....**

After about nine hours of torture, we finally headed back home.

"How'd it go?" Ben asked as I managed to haul myself through the door with a mass of bags. Federico kindly helped me shift them into the living room.

"Well put it this way, I have managed find out the hard way that Ezio suffers from travel sickness, then have him constantly want me to explain every little thing that we pass, and spend hours in queues at hot, stuffy and crowded clothes shops. It was horrific!"

"Huh, well I'm glad it wasn't me!"

"I bet you are!"

"Did you get everything you needed?"

"Yeah so I guess it wasn't totally pointless." I said dumping the last of the bags. Jenny came into the living room then and smiled kindly at me.

"Hey Abby, how was Cambridge?" she said coming over and hugging me.

"To sum it up in one word: Ugh!"

"Wow."

"Where's Ezio?" asked Claudia coming out of the kitchen behind Jenny.

"Ezio's outside, he still feels a little sick from the journey back."

"Oh that's terrible, will he be all right?" she said clasping her hands in front of her and looking concerned.

"He should be fine in a little while." I promised her, going into the kitchen to get the queasy Ezio a glass of water.

**.....**

When I stepped back outside with a glass of ice water, Ezio was sitting against the wall next to the door with his head resting back against the brickwork. He still looked a little pale. I closed the door behind myself and sat down beside him on the door ledge.

"Hey Ezio, how are you feeling?"

"I am feeling a little better  _grazie_   **(thank you)** " he said his voice a little weak but his cute Italian accent still strong.

"Here," I said pressing the water into his hand. "I brought that for you."

"Thank you."

"It's alright, I hope you feel better soon."

"Abby?" he said looking at me directly as he took a sip of the water.

"Yeah?"

" _Mi dispace_ **(I'm sorry)** , I did not mean to ruin your day."

That shocked me; I don't think I'd ever met a boy that had apologised as openly as he had.

"You didn't, cities and bustling places in general piss me off. Your travel sickness couldn't be helped." I said smiling at him and leaning my head against the door like he had previously done. He managed a chuckle and that made me smile.

"I enjoyed walking around with you and seeing all of these new interesting things though."

"I'm glad you enjoyed it." I said getting up and yawning. Ezio got up with me, he was already looking a lot better.

"Wow I'm shattered!"

"What?"

"What?"

"What does 'shattered' mean? You aren't broken."

I rolled my eyes at Captain Obvious. "It means tired."

"Oh."

"Ezio you should get some sleep too." I said using my authority voice, he nodded and we went back inside.


	6. High heels and Chocolate

After unloading all of the stuff that I had bought that day, I sent everyone off to try on their newly bought modern clothes (most from Primark before you ask how I managed to buy that much stuff). Most of them held the clothes I had handed them as if I had handed them a hand grenade with the pin pulled out of it. The only ones that took them gratefully since it was a chance to hands-on experience the new culture they had landed in were Maria and Giovanni.

When everyone had headed upstairs to try on their new garments and Ben was busy in the kitchen raiding the fridge, I pulled a rectangular box out a seemingly empty Office bag. It was my little piece of happiness that the excitement of which helped me through Ezio's inquisitive stage of the shopping spree. I quickly opened the box, removed the unnecessary tissue paper and slipped them on. They were quite high platform stilettos that were covered in a black fabric which had a pretty floral pattern printed on it. They were a little expensive too but I could afford them (thanks to my overdraft!). I sighed happily and fell back so that I was lying on the sofa with my feet in the air.

"Oooh those are pretty!" Said Jenny, coming over to admire my precious new shoes.

"I know." I said moving my feet back and forth in the air.

"But they were pretty expensive too!" said Jenny picking up the discarded shoe box and looking at the price.

"Sssh!" I said as I sat up and looked around guiltily. "I don't want Ben to know about these!" I said as I slipped them off again in case he came in after stuffing his face.

"How could you afford them?" she asked as I took the box from her and replaced them in their original place.

"It turns out I had enough in my overdraft to get them since they were on sale anyways!" I said winking at her while hugging the box to my chest protectively.

"Abby!"

"I know don't worry, I'm performing at a quite fancy restaurant tomorrow evening so I will have enough money!"

"Hmph."

"Please Jen, you can't tell him!"

"Okay okay I won't." Said Jenny smiling at me before shoving the bag into my arms. "Now get rid of the evidence before he comes back in!" she said ushering me to the stairs.

I got to my/Claudia's room and knocked on the door since she was probably trying on the clothes.

"Come in." Said Claudia before I opened the door with the shoes I was in love with. I walked in the box sheepishly in my hands.

" _Ciao_ **(Hi but it can also mean bye)**  Abby." She said smiling at me as I looked at the clothes spread across my bed. There were clothes everywhere.  _Hmm, some of those things definitely aren't in the pile of clothes I bought her..._

"I was just going to put this in my new shoes in my safe place." I said walking across the room to my chest of drawers. I also found out the hard way that she had been trying on my shoes as well – I tripped over a pair as I was half way across the room. Once managing to get over there in one piece, I stashed the box in the same place as I keep my super secret chocolate stash. My underwear drawer. I know it's not that secret but it is literally the only place in the house that Ben would not look for food!

"What is that?" said Claudia curiously from her place on the bed.

"Oh it's just something I bought myself today, to keep me from throttling your dear brother!"

I heard Claudia giggle then sigh. "Sí, I find it difficult not to some days too...may I see?"

"Of course." I said opening the drawer again and removing the shoe box. After we had both settled on the bed, I opened the lid and took out my beloved shoes.

"These are my new shoes." I said holding them up with my fingers letting Claudia look at them.

"Wow! They are nothing like I have seen or worn before... show me what they look like!" she said motioning for me to try them on. I happily agreed and a few moments later I was on my feet showing Claudia.

"Oh my, you are so much taller with them on! May I try?" she asked me hopefully as I plopped back down again.

"Sure, if you can fit into them." I said taking them off and handing them to her. It surprised me to find out that she was the same shoe size as me so in a flash she was standing in front of me smiling and looking down at her feet. She was wobbling very badly though.

"Careful, those aren't the easiest shoes to walk in without lots of practice!" I said standing up and supporting her off balance body.

"Can I try to walk at least?" she said looking at me hopefully. I raised my eyebrows but stepped away and let her have some space to walk around in but I kept standing in case she fell. She put her arms out to balance herself as she took her first wobbly steps in my very high heels...

**... Some time later...**

" _Merda!_ "

"Well I did try to warn you about the heels." I said applying a bag of frozen peas wrapped in a tea towel to Claudia's twisted and slightly swollen ankle. Everyone else luckily did not seem to hear the lump of both me and Claudia falling to my bedroom floor since they were still trying their new clothes and maybe hiding them from me so they wouldn't have to wear them again (oh well, nothing can be hidden from me anyways!). There were a few eyebrows raised downstairs by Jenny and Ben as I went to the freezer but they lowered them when I explained to them though. Jen also hastily retold her first time trying on her mum's stilettos for the first time. She ended up fracturing her ankle so Claudia didn't suffer too badly.

" _Fottiti_!" she said angrily as I moved her ankle to be able to see if it was broken or not. I guessed that she was using some sort of swear word at me so I just shook it off. Sprained ankles do hurt!

"Sorry, I know it hurts but I'm trying to see if it's broken or not! Geesh." I said stepping back and laying her foot back down on the pile of pillows I had set up.

"It doesn't look broken but if it swells anymore then we will have to get it checked out." I said finally taking note of what she was actually wearing. The black skinny jeans I had bought her and my favourite Aztec print top.

"That top was not in the pile of clothes I bought you." I finally said putting my hands on my hips jokily.

"I...I...It looked pretty and unusual so I thought I'd try it on. As for the trousers, I actually like them... though they are a little tight."

"Yeah, a bit like your corset?" I said holding up the piece as if I was holding up a pair of dirty socks before letting it drop again.

"A little." Claudia admitted lying back on the bed.

"Claudia, you have to promise not to try that high a heel again anytime soon." I said sitting down on the bed next to her while putting the (luckily undamaged) shoes back in the box and my drawer.

" _Va bene_." She said wincing as she moved a little to get comfortable. "Will my ankle be alright?"

"If you rest it for the rest of this evening, it should be better in a few days. You'll be fine tomorrow because we will be relaxing on the beach most of the day."

"The beach?"

"You've never been?"

"No, we live in  _Firenze_. We have a river but we do not live by the sea."

"Oh, you'll enjoy it tomorrow then. Did you like your clothes?"

"Yes I did  _grazie_. And I like  _your_  clothes too!" She said leaning back on her elbows to look at me properly. I took the hint and told her she could borrow some of my things but ONLY with my permission. She was happy at least.

"I never thought I let a person I'd know for just about two days borrow my clothes!" I said smiling at her as I walked to the door.

"And I never thought I'd be friends with someone I'd only known for two days!" she said smiling at me as I turned back to her a little bit surprised. We both smiled at each other for a moment before I bit my lip and decided I would let her in on my little secret.

**...**

A few chocolate bars later (Cadbury's of course) we were laughing and chatting in my room. We both had mouthfuls of chocolate and had been chatting like typical teenage girls.

"Oh my, I didn't know anything could taste as sweet as that!" Claudia said after swallowing, we had devoured almost all of my chocolate in 15 minutes.

"Well that's sugar for you, I didn't know you hadn't had it before."

"I'd had a little but it was really expensive and  _padre_ **(father)**  said it was not worth buying."

I almost choked on my chocolate! "Here it is quite cheap; you can get a kilo bag for £1 which is not much at all. You can get a bar of chocolate this size," I held up an empty wrapper "But melted chocolate is  _much_  better!"

"How can you get any more delicious than this?"

"You really haven't experienced life at all have you?" I said my eyebrows raising. "Wow you are about to catch up on all the things you missed young lady. But that'll start tomorrow because I think you've had more than enough chocolate for today." Seriously the way she pouted is not natural for a girl in her late teens. "You know if you eat too much you become unhealthy and put on weight." I laughed as she immediately looked down at her stomach as if suddenly she had grown fat.

"No it doesn't work  _that_  fast, you just have to be careful otherwise all that chocolate will go straight to your thighs." I said running out of the before Claudia could shout at me for 'making' her eat something like that. I did manage to catch her say something like 'why do the most delicious things have to be so bad.'

"Ditto that" I said as I walked down the stairs. Then the door went and a giggling 6 year old girl was suddenly clinging to my leg and Barney was shoving a small pink flowery case into my hands.

"Aunty Abby!"

"Wha-" I said patting the head of the little girl, Grace, while trying to carry her case and hug Barney back as he quickly hugged me.

"I need you to look after Grace for tonight and maybe tomorrow, Carly's going into labour and I want it to be peaceful for her in hospital instead of having her around."

Carly was a good friend of mine as well as her husband Barney, I had known her since high school.

"O-okay, um sure well we're going to the beach tomorrow anyway. Won't that be awesome Gracie?"

"Yay the beach!" Grace said giggling at gripping my leg even tighter.

"Thank you, I'm sorry its so short notice but - " he said wringing his hands and glancing back at the car.

"Cool it, you need to be calm to keep Carly calm 'kay?" I said gripping his shoulders briefly before stepping back (awkwardly since Grace was making it difficult) and smiling at him. "Now get her to the hospital... go!" I said putting Grace's things down and picking her up instead, she wrapped her arms around my neck.

_Anymore and this house is going to explode with all these people in it!_

Barney smiled briefly, kissed the top of Grace's head then gave a quick wave before heading off.

"Aunty Abby?" she asked me with her little inquisitive voice that sometimes even catches me out.

"Yeah?"

"Where are mummy and daddy going?" she said looking up at me with her cute eyes as if I had the the brainpower of a supergenius

"Oh... they're, um going to the stork delivery centre to pick up your little baby sister. They couldn't deliver her to your house because they can't fly in houses."  _I seriously hate lying to little kids! First Santa and now this!_

"Oh okay, I hope they get back soon." She said in a sadder voice  _oh she is so cute even when she is sad!_

"They will honey, now let's get you some tea yeah?"

"Yeah!" she said happily before starting to play with my hair.

I left her bag by the door for the moment as I opened the living room door. Surprisingly Ben was on the other side looking as if I had just beaten him to it. He blinked then looked at the girls in my arms.

"Uncle Ben!" she said leaning forward to try and hug Ben with her little arms while still gripping onto me with her legs.

"Gracie? What are you doing here?" he said as Jenny appeared beside him.

"Mummy and daddy are going to pick up my little sister from the storks, right Aunty?"

"Yeah." I said winking at Ben, I think he got it because he smiled and nodded. "Alright then." He said ruffling Grace's hair which inadvertedly made her squeal.

"Speaking of storks, I'm going to stay over at Jenny's tonight so I won't be back until after work tomorrow." He said to me linking his hand with Jenny's while she smiled at him. Yeah like I didn't know what  _that_  meant!

"Alright just remember to take your work overalls with you." I said as they walked past me to the landing. Ben works part-time as a mechanic down one of the local garages so he would need them so he didn't get his regular clothes dirty with oil and grease. He smiled and held up his free hand to show he'd already got them.

"Okay then see'ya tomorrow." I said waving just as Grace reattached herself to my leg.

"Bye bye Uncle Ben and Aunty Jenny!" she said as they opened the front door. Jenny turned back and waved at Grace.

"See ya honey bun." She said smiling before closing the door.

"Grace hun, could you please do me a favour and please get off of my leg?"

"No, it's fun!"

"Alrighty then, I'll just have to move slower." I said shuffling towards the kitchen while Grace giggled and squeezed my leg very hard.

"Who's this?" said Federico kneeling down to Grace who was still sitting on my foot and gripping on my leg for dear life. I noted that he was wearing a rather tight shirt which I think he chose deliberately along with not so good jogging bottoms.

"This," I said picking up Grace and swinging her up into my arms. "Is Grace, she is my friend's daughter and she's staying here tonight. Her pregnant mummy has just realised that her baby has come a little later than expected." I said hugging the girl in my arms. Grace was now incredibly shy and had pressed her face against my shoulder.

"Grace can be a little shy sometimes." I explained to Federico but he didn't seem fazed at all.

"It is nice to meet you  _bambina_   **(female child)** " he said to her and she turned her head in his direction.

"Grace, this is Federico. He is also staying here with his family." I said turning her to him even more.

"Hello." She said quietly before burrowing her face again. I gave Federico an oh-well look then grinned.

**...**

Once tea for everyone had been sorted and all of us were showered, everyone present (apart from Claudia who was still in her room either asleep or trying on more of my clothes) gathered in the living room since there was actually enough room then. Grace had took a shining to Federico after him speaking to her so was curled up on his lap fast asleep.  _Aww she looks so cute!_  Petruccio was sat in between his parents on the larger sofa while Federico, Grace and Ezio were on the love seat. I was trying and failing to explain what an iPod was. In the end I gave up and just played them music and passed it around to them as they each marvelled at the touch screen.

After all the hype about the iPod (or the 'weird music box' as they so lovingly called it) had died down, Maria, Petruccio and Giovanni went upstairs after saying goodnight.

"And then there were four." I said smiling as I unfolded the sofa bed. It disturbed me a little to see both boys grinning at me at the same time with the same creepy smile.

"What?" I said sitting cross legged in the middle of it staring at them confusedly. I rose my eyebrows as Federico elbowed Ezio in the ribs and smiled knowingly.

"I was just wondering if you had a boyfriend  _bella_..." he said trailing off and looking at me with what I'm guessing was his most charming smile. I did not want to know what ' _bella_ ' meant.  _Of course they would do this, wait 'til I'm alone then start flirting their arses off!_

"As a matter of fact I do and we've been together for 4 years now." I said trying not to smirk as Ezio's smile faded for a moment before returning. Like me, Federico was having a hard time trying not to laugh.

"Ah well, I should've known that such a  _bella donna_  like yourself would not be without a boyfriend." Ezio said chuckling and brushing off my rejection.  _Seriously! He's_ _still_ _flirting!_  That time I involuntarily blushed and quickly got out my phone so I could look down and try to hide it. I texted Danny asking if he wanted to come the beach tomorrow with us.

' _Alright, I'll meet you there around 11, love you.'_  He texted back a couple of moments later. Danny was actually quite a sentimental guy compared to the other men in the local neighbourhood.

"Leave it, I'll explain tomorrow." I said just as Federico was about to open his mouth and ask about my phone.

**...**

"Aunty Abby... Aunty Abby!" whispered a little nervous voice as someone shook me. "The monsters are going to get me, please wake up!"

"Huh..." I said half-awake as Grace threw herself into my arms.

"Protect me, please." She said, her voice almost to tears. She had obviously had a really bad nightmare.

"Oh Gracie, it's alright. No monsters are out to get you; you just had a bad dream."

"But it was so real!" she said her voice breaking as she burrowed further against me. I wrapped my arms around her and rubbed her back soothingly.

"Is everything alright?" said Giovanni concerned coming over to us and standing next to the bed. "I heard somebody screaming."

"Oh everything's fine; Grace just had a really vivid nightmare." I said looking down at the little girl who was staining my PJ top with her tears (and probably snot!). "Thank you for checking on us though." I smiled at the man who actually cared enough to see if we were alright.

"Your welcome, I'm glad you're alright."

Eventually, Grace stopped crying and fell asleep cuddled up next to me and I actually managed to get some sleep.


	7. The Beach!

I woke up at the regular time with Grace still curled up next to me. She looked so cute when she slept - though all babies and cute baby animals do! I slowly and carefully got up and out of bed without disturbing her; she wasn't having nightmares anymore so I left her to sleep peacefully some more and went to see if Petruccio was up yet.

Sure enough, he was there on the landing grinning excitedly at me as I tiptoed up to the top floor.

" _Guten morgen_ **(Good morning)**  Abby!" He whispered to me as I opened the door to the music room. I grinned at his use of German, he seemed like a fast learner and that was good since I had no idea how long they were going to be here.

" _Guten morgen_  Petruccio." I whispered back shutting the door after he stepped clear. I was going to teach him some more conversational necessities, in both English and German, so he could actually have a little conversation with anyone who greeted him. The room was surprisingly clean for a kid's room and his bed was the only thing that was scruffy.

"Oh,  _un momento_   **(One moment)** " he said turning around and dashing out of the room again. I just raised my eyebrows and carried on cleaning the whiteboard that still had yesterday's work on it. Literally a few moments later, Petruccio and a half-awake Ezio walked back into the room. Ezio was being pulled along by his brother and was rubbing his eyes tiredly.

" _Cosa Petruccio? Perché mi hai svegliato?_   **(What Petruccio? Why did you wake me?)** " grumbled Ezio who looked like he had a bad case of bed hair.

" _Ezio tradurre tutto Abby dice_.  **(Ezio translate everything Abby says)** " Petruccio said to Ezio, complete with puppy dog eyes. What ever he was pleading about Ezio didn't seem to pleased that he had to do it this early in the morning.

" _Tutto?_ **(Everything)** " he said looking at his brother with an eyebrow raised.

" _Tutto_   **(Everything)** _._ " Petruccio said firmly.

" _Va bene_ **(Okay)** " Ezio replied collapsing into the comfy chair in the corner.

"Looks like you need some coffee Ezio, looks like you're gonna need all of your brainpower to do his request this early in the morning."

"Thank you." Ezio said grateful of the offer. Ezio was obviously is NOT a morning person.

"Ezio!" Petruccio whined looking at his brother annoyed.

" _Cosa? Mi ha chiestose volevoun caffè._ **(What? She was asking me if I wanted some coffee.)** "

"Oh," Said Petruccio laughing lightly. " _Mi dispace_.  **(I'm sorry)** "

**...**

After drinking some coffee, Ezio was able to translate all of what I said to the eager Petruccio who wrote down lots –I'm guessing that's what he was pleading about. It was a huge help and meant that I didn't have to gesture wildly to get him to do something.

I noticed though that whenever he picked up the pen he always picked it up with his left hand then consciously swapped it to his right hand quickly.  _He's left handed? Then why is he writing in his right hand?_ Then I remembered that it was only recently that left-handedness was accepted and that before that all left handers where forced to write with their right hand. I really wanted to tell him that it he could write with his left hand if he wanted but I didn't because he could get into trouble if his parents found out. I know about the history of left handers because my dad and brother are left handed.

After the lesson, Ezio immediately ran back to bed to gain a few more hours of sleep before everyone else got up. That left me and Petruccio alone again.

Today instead of the guitar Petruccio pushed me towards the piano and watched me play that instead. I even taught him a small tune which he could use to impress his family. He was so concentrated he even did the thing some people do where their tongue sticks out of their mouth really weirdly. He had mastered the tune with only 20 minutes work which is really good.

**...**

After getting everyone breakfast and making a picnic for later, I got changed then helped sort out Claudia's hair which she said she wanted a modern look for. With her floaty dress and denim waistcoat, I decided to do two small braids and secure them at the back of her head in a hippie sort of look. Her hair was naturally curly so it looked really good half up. She looked really weird once I had finished since she seemed to usually keep her hair in her headpiece rather than out loose. I myself was wearing some shorts (which I knew would fail Giovanni's inspection of my clothes but I really didn't care since we were going to the beach anyway.) a white vest and a white loose dance-type top over it. Under the vest I had my bikini on but that was just a precaution in case my friends decide to chuck me in the sea! I french plaited my long fringe and secured the rest of my hair in a bun along with another french plait along the other side of my head. I was going for a 'Grecian goddess' look.

After all that was done, all I had to do was help Grace get ready (she had been bouncing around me for the previous hour and a half since she REALLY wanted to go to the beach) then put on sun cream (I didn't think the Italians needed it since they were used to the sun!) and we were ready to go.

Since Ezio had a sickness issue with the car and we didn't really need it, I decided we were going to walk there. The weather had brightened up from the previous day's rain so the outlook for the day was looking pretty good.

"Aunty Abby?" Grace asked as I put on my sandals (I had just finished the lecture with Giovanni about the length of my shorts but again I won by telling him about bikinis. I rolled my eyes as Ezio and Federico's ears pricked up at the mention of the revealing beach wear.).

"Yes honey?"

"Where are Uncle Ben and Aunty Jenny? I thought they were going to come with us." She said; she liked having everyone around her.

"Oh…uh Ben is staying with Jenny this morning but don't worry they'll be back this afternoon to look after you while I practice for tonight." I said stumbling over the first part. Everyone else seemed to get it as heat flushed to my cheeks at the mention of my brother staying at Jenny's house.

"Okie dokie." She said smiling happily. "Are mummy and daddy coming to the beach with us too?"

"Maybe not today cupcake, your mummy is a little bit tired and so your daddy is staying at home as well to look after her and your new baby sister." I said giving her her hat and helping her put her shoes on.

"Oh..." she said her face turning from optimistic to sad.

"You'll be seeing them again tonight and you spoke to them on the phone this morning."

"Okay." She said her face bursting into cuteness once more.

**...**

Finally after a few more minutes we were all out of the house and walking to the beach. The weather was nice and sunny and the sky was blue with lots of fluffy white clouds. I had Grace on my shoulders, pretending I was her 'horsie', the picnic bag on my back (Both Federico and Ezio offered to carry it for me but I refused because I wanted them to enjoy their first time at the beach rather than lug a heavy bag around all day.) and I had everything planned. It was made even better when Danny joined us and joined hands with me.

"Hey." He said smiling at me and putting his sunglasses on the top of his head.

"Hey." I said before we kissed quickly. The Italians all looked at us and Grace whacked me on the head for stopping when she hadn't told me to.

"Ow!"

"Bad horsie!" said Grace using her stern voice as slapped me again.

"Hey Grace." Danny said looking up at her and grinning.

"Hey Danny!"

"Hope you're not hurting Abby too much."

"Nope as long as she is a good horsie." She said giggling and bending down, taking his sunglasses and trying them on.

"Well I would be if you stopped slapping me." I muttered to myself and she slapped me again.  _I guess I deserved that one!_

"Good good." He said laughing at my misfortune. "So are these your cousins?" he said looking at the others who were walking along behind us and taking in all of the houses and shops and other modern sights.

"Yeah, they arrived here three days ago. They'll be staying for a while." I explained as we walked in the direction of the pier and the famed beach huts.

"Guys, this is my boyfriend, Danny." I said introducing him to the Italians. They all greeted him back (even Petruccio using his newly found knowledge) though Ezio only muttered a greeting.  _What is wrong with him?_

"Grace can you see the sea yet?" I asked her since she had the biggest height advantage at that moment.

"Yes! I can see the seeeeaaaa!" she said bouncing around on my shoulders and clapping. Her happiness was contagious and soon all of us were smiling as we finally arrived at the promenade.

"Welcome to the beach!" I said to the Italians as they stood there admiring the beautiful coastal sights. Well when I say everyone, Ezio and Federico were instead staring at all of the bikini clad girls sunbathing on the sand or walking down the promenade. I really wanted to smack them both round their heads but that was their father's job. Instead I just muttered 'Perverts' and sighed while my boyfriend laughed and put an arm around my shoulders.

"They're young men, that's what they do." He said defending them as their father smacked them (heh heh) and they finally stopped ogling every girl on the beach.

"But  _padre_ **(father)** _,_  they are wearing so little clothing. It is not my fault that I am not used to it." Federico whined at Giovanni and both Ezio and Giovanni smirked.  _Like father like son._

"Ugh, they're still perverts in my eyes." I retorted grinning at the boys and smirking at my own wit.

He managed to laugh before Grace smacked both us on the head and told me to put her down. I complied then looked around for the hut that had parasols and deck chairs for hire. I soon found it next to the ice cream stall and told Danny to find us a spot on the crowded beach (It gets really crowded in the summer holidays!) while I went to pay for them (I had used my secret stuffed inside Elvis the teddy bear to fund our little expedition to the beach). I managed to lug the two parasols and three beach chairs to our spot (not too far from the sea which is impressive) in two trips and once we were set up we would be set for the whole day.

I wasn't surprised to see that already girls were staring at Ezio and Federico (a few men at Claudia as well) as they stood chatting and laughing with one another as Danny and I spread out the chairs and put up the parasols. Ezio and Federico had taken advice from the other men on the beach and were standing showing off their toned and tanned chests.  _Six pack... check!_  Danny jokingly covered my eyes when he caught me glancing at them in shock.

"Hey, they're your cousins!" he said as I laughed and turned back to him. He was bared chested too and was looking extremely good if I do say so myself.

"Sorry! You are more good looking than them anyways."

"Really?" that made his eyebrows raise.

"Yeah, you beat Johnny Depp hands down."

"Uh-huh, well I don't believe you." He said sitting on the only empty deck chain since we had offered the other two to Maria and Giovanni.

"Yeah you're right, Johnny Depp always wins."

"I knew it."

"Well I'm not as good looking as Angelina Jolie but you still love me." I said fiddling with the locket round my neck. It was my 20th birthday present from him and I hadn't really taken it off since he'd given it to me.

"True, Angelina Jolie is smokin'" he said laughing as I leant my head on his knees and closed my eyes in the shade. Maria and Giovanni were talking and holding hands and all round enjoying the peace that their children had left them with while Ezio and Federico had already gone off somewhere, probably flirting with all of the girls on the beach. That just left me, Danny, Claudia, Petruccio and...

"Come on Aunty, lets go in the sea!" said Grace jumping into my lap and clinging on to my neck.  _So much for peace and quiet!_

"Aww Grace maybe later." I whined not wanting to move away from the shade of the parasol. It was really hot already and it was only 10 o'clock!

"No nooooow! Pleeeeeeaaaase?" she said looking up at me with eyes that could melt steel.

"Aw okay fine!" I said picking her up. I hated when she did that look because it meant that I'd do anything she wanted.

"Yaaaaaay!" she said squeezing me tightly. Both Maria and Giovanni were smiling at me with a 'that is what awaits you 24/7 in the future' look. I really didn't want to think about that yet though.

"You comin'" I asked Danny who seemed content with just staying put.

"Nah, I think I'll stay here in the shade. I may even get an ice cream in a minute."

"Ice cream?" Grace said hopefully.

"No, Danny was only teasing you."

"Awww" she said pouting. I glared at Danny who was laughing at me.

"Thanks Danny."

"Yoouurrr welcome." He said doing a mini Tobuscus impression. I rolled my eyes and walked towards the sea. Claudia and Petruccio were seated on the beach towel in front of the parasol and were talking happily in Italian though I also heard snippets in German as well.  _Petruccio is teaching Claudia German? Awesome!_

"Do you two want to go in the sea?" I asked them though obviously Claudia had to translate to Petruccio. He nodded and stood up clasping Claudia's hand and grinning at me.

"How am I supposed to go in water like this? I'll get my dress wet!" Moaned Claudia who obviously liked her new dress loads.

"Just hoist it up and you'll be fine." I said doing it for her and she held the material up with her hand.

"Alright, let's go." She said as we walked towards the sea. Grace jumped out of my arms and ran towards the water excitedly. She had her pink Disney princess swimming costume and orange armbands on so she wouldn't drown. Grace and Claudia did little girly squeals as the freezing water cascaded over their feet.

"Dio mio  **(My god)** it is cold!" Claudia said letting go of Petruccio's hand and running away from the next set of waves. Grace kept going though because she knew that she would get used to the cold.

"Look Claudia, a six year old is braver than you are with the cold water." I said trying to get her to step forward again.

"I don't see you near the waves!" she shot back glaring at me. I just smiled and started walking through the wet sand and right into the little oncoming waves. I stopped for a minute until the wave passed over my feet then carried on. I kept on walking until I got to Grace who was swimming around at about my knee height. I picked her wet body up and kept walking until the water reached mid way up my thigh. I then turned back to Claudia and grinned triumphantly before walking back to the sand with Grace and standing next to her again. Petruccio was walking around in the sea up to about his knee height and was using his hands to make ripples in the water.

"You ready to wade in too?" I asked her removing my white top and securing it around my waist.

"Maybe." She said still looking warily at the larger waves further out.

"Don't worry, you'll be fine." I said now realising that she was a little scared of the waves. I happened to look back at that moment to see Danny and Ezio jogging towards us with sly grins on their faces.  _Oh no..._

"Claudia, run!" I said as Ezio and Danny broke out into a full sprint. I ran down the beach a little way trying to get away from Danny who was nearly catching up to me. Claudia had already been caught by Ezio and who had picked her up and was carrying her towards the sea.

"No Danny... don't you dare!" I said stopping and grabbing his wrists. He just laughed and held both my arms with one hand.

"Let's give you a nice wash!" he said laughing and picking me up too. Both of us we trying to break free and save ourselves and our clothes before we got into the sea but it was too late. I heard whoops from the shore and knew that my friends were cheering him on. Claudia was now clinging on to Ezio for dear life while I just held onto his neck in defeat.

"You win this time..." I said glumly as they stopped and held us out. Both boys were grinning from ear to ear and now my friends were giving them a count down.

"3...2...1!"

I held my breath and held my nose as I was plunged into the icy sea. My body convulsed at the freezing temperature it was not used to. When I came up, Claudia was gasping for breath and shaking the hair out of her eyes. Both boys were standing there laughing at us as we bobbed in the ocean. I looked at Claudia and Claudia looked at me and we both nodded before swimming underwater again. We both swam towards our prey with our limited vision and grabbed onto their feet before yanking them towards us catching the boys off balancing and making them fall back into the water. After surfacing we hugged and stood laughing as the boys emerged totally dripping and not amused.

"That wasn't fair!" said Danny wading towards me and shaking the hair away from his eyes.

"Yes thank you sister." Ezio said frowning at Claudia who was shaking the water out of her hair right next to Ezio.

"Anytime Ezio." She replied smiling and walking back towards the beach with all of us. That was actually quite funny and actually a good way to cool off.

**...**

About half an hour later me, Danny, Grace and the Auditores (minus Federico, Ezio and Claudia) were sitting in the shade enjoying some ice cream. It was not surprising that everyone liked it since it was sweeter than anything they were used to.

"How can anything be so sweet and colourful?" Maria had said astonished at the sweetness of the sticky beverage. Giovanni was surprised too and had questioned the cost of them.

"Sugar." I replied smiling and taking another lick of my strawberry ice cream, "It is very cheap nowadays." Danny silently finished his mint choc-chip while having one arm slung around my still damp shoulders. I was trying to eat it before it melted and made my hand go sticky. I had bought everyone else vanilla because I had no idea what flavours they would like. It was also because Petruccio would probably get hyper enough on vanilla compared to chocolate fudge brownie. Already he was having a hard time sitting still.

"Maybe I shouldn't have given Grace and Petruccio sugar." I said to Danny quietly in between licks. They were both grinning widely in a way that told me that Ben, Maria and Giovanni would not be getting them to calm down anytime soon.

"Maybe you shouldn't of but at least they will sleep well tonight." He replied checking his phone as it beeped. "Ah I have to go, I promised my mum I'd help her with the shopping today."

"Alright, good luck lugging heavy bags around in this heat!" I said as we both stood and faced each other.

"Yeah, it'll be a challenge." He said leaning down and kissing me passionately. I could taste the mint choc-chip from his lips. We parted after I heard awkward coughs from the others and he put on her sunglasses then left. I grinned brightly at the looks I got from them all.

"What?" I said innocently before wiping the ice cream from my lips and sitting down with Grace and Petruccio on the beach towel. I needed to get my hair and clothes dry somehow.

"Thank you Aunty for the ice cream." Said Grace grinning at me with her ice cream covered face and hugging me with her sticky hands. Petruccio was somewhat cleaner but still had ice cream on his face.

"Eew Gracie you are covered in ice cream!" I said prying her hands off of me and my clothes and opening one of the bags I had taken with me to get some wet wipes. Grace continued to giggle as I wiped her arms and face down with them before wasps took notice of her. I handed Maria the wipes afterwards so she could clean Petruccio.

"My god Ezio, what happened?" Giovanni asked from behind me as Ezio reappeared. I looked round to see what was the matter and there stood Ezio with phone numbers scrawled all over him.

"Ezio, what the hell have you been doing?" I asked as came and sat down on a vacant deck chair.

"Nothing, I was just... flirting a few girls and they wrote on me." He said gesturing to his body.

"But why numbers?" asked Maria also coming over to inspect her son.

"Because they want him to call them and arrange a date." I said still shocked at the vast amount of numbers there were. Everyone was confused at what 'call them' meant but I would explain that at a later date. "And that is not a few girls Ezio, that is more like half of the beach! Can you not stop flirting?"

"Actually, most of them approached me!" He said smirking .

"Right." I said though I actually believing him. Mediterranean men are always popular with British women! "Wait a minute... some of those numbers are from my friends! Unbelievable!" I said as I recognised Rachel, Kirsty and Tasha's numbers written in lipstick on his chest (which I think is a bit too flirtatious!). I was still staring at those numbers when I heard a familiar German accented voice coming from nearby. I round for the source of the voice and found it talking to Federico not to far away from us.

"Evelyn?" I called, standing up and walking towards them warily. The last time I had seen Evelyn, I was spending Christmas with my family in Germany. Evelyn is my second cousin and we are almost like sisters though we don't see each other face to face often - we talk mostly on the phone though it costs a fortune thanks to international rates!


	8. The Surprise

"Really, I can't poss-" Evelyn stopped midsentence when she heard my voice from behind her. She spun on her heels and smiled brightly, "Abby!" she said happily, nearly tackling me into a hug, "It's been so long. Why haven't you called me the past two weeks?" she tried her best to give me a firm pout but ended up in a fit of giggles, "I haven't been able to tell you the good news, but, I guess it's pretty obvious now that we've seen each other!"

Everyone (Claudia had returned back to us and judging by her wet feet, she had gone in the sea again) just stared at us while I regained my balance from her over powerful enthusiasm hug. Evelyn is a little bit smaller than I am (and I am quite small) with hazel eyes and lightly tanned skin. She is the same age as me and that is why we are so close.

"Really? It's been two weeks since I called you last? I guess I forgot! Are you here on holiday or..." I said laughing with Evelyn before trailing off once I figured out what she was trying to say. "You moved here?! No way!" I said both happy and shocked at the same time.

" _Ja_!  **(Yes!)**  I did!" Evelyn giggled softly as she let go of me before turning to the Auditore family, "Hey, who are they?" she asked, looking at me confused, "They can't be family since I've never seen them at the reunions... Abby?" Evelyn had an even more confused look as she counted seven people (including Federico).

_Crap! Now I'm going to have to find a way to lie to my_ _real_ _cousin! She trusts me a lot and I have never kept anything from her before! This is going to be hard..._

"Oh," I said stalling and trying to come up with an excuse. "Uh they are... family friends that have come to visit us."  _Nailed it!_  "They visited my parents first then they came down to stay with us for a few... months." I really hoped Evelyn bought that, even just temporarily. "Guys this is Evelyn, one of my cousins from Germany." I said introducing Evelyn before introducing them individually to her. Ezio looked at me with an eyebrow raised because of my crappy excuse while Federico continued to look at Evelyn charmingly.  _Oh god, here we go!_

For a second, a tiny gleam of distrust flashed through Evelyn's hazel orbs, but it was gone as quick as it came.

"Nice to meet you all. Where are you guys from?" she said, giving a pointed look to Federico, "You sound...Italian?" she guessed obviously hoping to get it spot on. Federico had a softer accent but, it was unmistakable that he had that notorious Italian drawl.

"It is a pleasure to meet you too  _bella_. You are correct, my family and I are from  _Italia_." Federico said bowing to her and giving her a charming smile. I rolled my eyes at the outright display of flirting but I let it go because she had actually bought my poor excuse.

Evelyn raised an eyebrow and curtsied, "Why it's nice to meet you too,  _signore_  Federico," she gave a him a short wink before flashing a stupid grin at me that said she was really enjoying this, "I see you have a way with a women, you having them falling over," she nodded towards a few girls not so far from them that were practically drooling and boring their eyes into Federico's back. She turned to me, "I see why you haven't called, you must be busy with them," she giggled softly. I rolled my eyes and started to clean Ezio's arms with the wet wipes. Some of the eager girls had even wrote on him in permanent marker. I apologised to Ezio before having to rub his skin red raw to even start to get that off. I now ignored my phone that was still alerting me to the large amount of texts I was getting from my too eager friends.

It was actually really weird to hear Italian roll off of a German tongue but I was a little impressed to hear it from Evie.  
"Really? Because I seem to be falling for you." Federico said looking deep into my cousin's eyes. I really wanted to facepalm at the cheesiness of it but I just concentrated on getting Ezio's arms clean though I couldn't help looking up occasionally. I returned Evelyn's grin back to her.

Evelyn raised an eyebrow again and circled Federico a bit, her hand trailing his shoulders while he followed her with his eyes, "I could say the same," she stepped away quickly to my side, "Though, it seems you say this to all girls." She said as she leaned on my shoulder while I cleaned the numbers off Ezio. " _Amico_."

Federico smiled mischievously. "I wouldn't say  _all_  girls, just the real  _bella donnas_   **(beautiful ladies)**." he said walking over to her again and stood in front of her looking again in her eyes. Ezio on the other hand was not and was looking somewhere just a little to the south. I stopped cleaning him and slapped him hard on the shoulder.

"Ah! What have I done now?" he said rubbing his shoulder while I gave him a death stare.

"Don't even think about doing that again!" I snarled at him under my breath, I don't think Evelyn had noticed.

"But how come Federico-" he started but I interrupted him before he could start whining about how 'it wasn't fair' like a six year old would.

"At least he wasn't looking where  _you_  were!" I said grabbing his arm and cleaning it again.

"Well I caught you admiring my chest earlier and just now." He said suddenly putting his flirty smile on again and turning the argument around. I just gaped open mouthed at him.

"Uh no! I was just shocked that you had such a..." I stopped myself saying the last part though I think he got it. I immediately blushed and looked away from him and back at his arms. "So... Evelyn when did you move here?" I said changing the subject hastily though interrupting the newly emerging couple.

Evelyn just flashed a grin at Federico before giggling at Ezio,

"Let them, look, cousin, though, you Italians respect Catholicism no? Coveting things you cannot have is a sin," she smirked mischievously before turning to me, "A day ago," she rubbed the back of her head and smiled brightly. Her remark certainly stopped Ezio smirking at me and he stared at her shocked at what she had said, Maria and Giovanni raised an eyebrow at the comment too.

"Really? Well I could help you unpack your things tomorrow if you'd like?" I said wiping the last of the numbers off of his arms and handing him the wet wipes to take to Maria. Ezio gave me a look and smiled triumphantly.  _Don't start this again Ezio!_

Evelyn smirked triumphantly when she saw Ezio just stare, giving her the notion that she won, "I guess studying Catholicism was a good choice," she shrugged and hugged her cousin again. "You're so sweet!" she giggled. Just then Grace ran to me and grabbed onto my leg after I stood up from the deck chair.

"Aunty! Come in the sea with me again!" she said hopefully before spotting Evelyn and turning all shy. I laughed and picked her up as she dissolved my bad mood with her shyness. Once again she hid her face in my top. Evelyn raised an eyebrow before "aw-ing" loudly,

"She's so adorable! Who is she?" Evelyn asked in utter joy, she'd always had a weakness for cute things, especially children.

"She's my friend's daughter, we're looking after her because her mummy went into labour yesterday and so she needs a break from this handful." I said bouncing Grace lightly in my arms. "Grace, this is my cousin Evelyn." I introduced Evelyn to Grace and Grace turned her head to look at Evelyn with her big green eyes. She still didn't utter a word. "She's very shy."

Evelyn smiled at Grace, "Hi Grace!" she giggled and waved as the child turned to look at her, "Aw! You are too cute!" she grinned brightly at the girl, "I can't wait to have my own one day."

"You'll be a great mother." I said as Grace smiled shyly at her and waved back. "Are you going to come in the sea with us Evie?" I said putting Grace down and taking off my floaty white top again and chucking it on top of the picnic bag.

Evelyn gave me a strained smiled, "I- um, I'm not sure..." she glanced warily at the water. I looked at her confused for a moment before I remembered her telling me once why when she wouldn't swim in a river with me. She shook her head quickly, "I-I think I'm gonna stay here..." she mumbled. Evelyn once had been pushed into a river when she was small, about four, and nearly drowned. Ever since she's been deathly afraid of water.

"Oh  _es tut mir leid_   **(I'm sorry)** I completely forgot that you..."I said trailing off because I had no idea how to finish that sentence without making things worse!"There's food in the bag if you want some." I said before Grace pulled me towards the sea.

**...**

I was dripping by the time I got back and so was Grace. We'd done a little bit of swimming and sitting down in the shallower water. Petruccio then had joined us too and we had played a little game of it on the wet sands.

"Okay guys, you win!" I said racing back to our spot and collapsing on the towel next to Claudia in exhaustion!  _How do they have so much energy!_

"Yay!" Grace said clapping her hands together and jumping on top of me.

"Oof!" I said as the air was pushed out of my lungs. "Grace get off! I have to put some more sun cream on you before you burn!" I sat up and held the squirming girl in my arms as I looked for the sun cream.

"Damn, we've ran out!" I said holding up the empty bottle, standing up and grabbing my purse and picking up Grace quickly before putting her in Evelyn's arms. "Can you look after her for a minute while I go the chemists and buy some more sun cream  _bitte_   **(please)**?"

" _Ja. Ja_ , go, I'll take care of her," Evelyn smiled as she held Grace close, " _Mein gott_   **(My god)**  you are so adorable!" she squealed softly as she took her seat next to Federico and Petruccio, who looked very sunburned, "Woah...I thought only pale people burned," the brunette blinked at the younger boy, "At least you don't wear glasses!"

Federico chuckled and proceeded to explain that Petruccio couldn't understand any of what Evelyn just said "He knows very little English and also a little German thanks to Abby." he said before translating to the eager Petruccio. I smiled at them all before racing off to find the nearest chemist.

**...**

The nearest one was on the high street which was a little walk from the beach. I didn't mid though because it gave me time to think over what music I was going to play at the restaurant that night. It wasn't exactly formal but it was more that than informal so I was going to play some jazzy type stuff unless anyone requested some other genre. I walked leisurely into the shop and bought the biggest but cheapest bottle I could find. Just as I was walking back through the shop towards the cashier my phone beeped.

_Rachel: Hey, where r u? I need to talk to you... it's an emergency!_

_Abby: I'm at Boots getting some sun cream. If that emergency involves the hot italian guys on the beach don't worry i know, they're my cousins._

_Rachel: Really? OMG. But no that is not the emergency it is an actual one and it involves your boyfriend._

_Abby: Really? Is he hurt?_

_Rachel: No but he will be when i get my hands on him._

_Abby: What?_

_Rachel: Never mind, just meet me outside Boots in 1 min and i'll explain._

_Abby: kk_

I was a little confused at what she meant when she said 'but he will be when I get my hands on him' but I was prepared to wait for her to explain. Sure enough, when I had finished paying she was there waiting for me with her beloved camera in her hands.

"Hey, what's up?" I said leaning against the store window next to my friends.

"I have something to show and... it's not pretty." She said in her cute Irish accent but with a weird almost angry tone of voice.

"Ooookay, I'm all ears." I said waiting for her to explain the reason for her anger. Rachel was a photographer and has her own website which is actually pretty popular. She always had her camera on her and was constantly working on some project or other. She was a very happy person and hardly ever got angry, this was one of the only times I had seen her even a little annoyed.

"Okay so I was on the pier taking some photos for my latest project when I see this." She said pressing a button on her professional camera then passing it to me. On the screen was a picture of Danny leaning against the railings on the side of the pier with an unfamiliar blonde holding hands and looking out to sea.

"That could just be a cousin he's a little protective of." I said trying to explain the picture. However doubt was already rippling through my mind and I already felt a lump form in my throat.

"Really? Because I caught them doing this a few seconds after." Rachel said in a tone of disgust as she showed me another photo. This time it was of Danny and the blonde kissing. Not just a little peck. Full on kissing. My eyes prickled at the sense of betrayal that flooded into me. I didn't speak for a long moment, I just covered my mouth with my hands and closed my eyes hoping that this was just some sort of bad nightmare caused by eating too much chocolate yesterday.

"No..." I eventually whispered as Rachel wrapped and arm around my shoulders and pulled me into a side hug.

"I swear the next time I see him I'm going to punch him so hard that-" Rachel started but I shook my head and interrupted her.

"When did you take these?" I said my voice strained and quiet. I was praying that it didn't crack because that was an early warning that I was about to cry and I didn't want to yet.

"A few minutes ago. I texted you straight after I took them."

I bowed my head in thought. It was way worse because it was so recent. It also meant though that he couldn't say 'it was a mistake and it is completely in the past' which could convince me to forgive him.

"Can you come with me to see him?" I asked knowing I had to see for myself and confront him.

"Sure." She said taking my hand and leading me back through town towards the pier. We walked quite quickly so they would still be there when we arrived. When we got to the pier, Rachel lead me right to the end and sure enough, they were still there kissing. My heart broke in two and I felt like my legs couldn't support me.

"Danny?" I said walking towards them on my own with Rachel standing behind me and letting me have a moment while still backing me up. He broke away from the blonde as soon as he saw me.

"I can-"

"No, I don't think you can..." I said knowing what was about to spew out of his mouth. A shoddy and false explanation that he didn't really mean. He was a cheat and a liar and he'd just been caught.

"Who are you?" the blonde said obviously confused which ruled out the idea that she knew what was going on.

"I'm his other girlfriend." I said regaining some courage. The people around us turned to view the interesting scenario. The blonde looked shocked and even more confused.

"What?"

"Your boyfriend there obviously forgot to mention me." I made it clear that the acid in my voice wasn't for her but for the bastard standing beside her looking like a rabbit caught in the headlights. "Look he even got you the same locket as me." I said pulling the locket from around my neck and dangling it in the air in front of me. The woman, who looked to be just a little younger than me, looked between the locket, myself and Danny as she finally put the pieces together. The people surrounding us gasped in shock. I felt like I was on the Jeremy Kyle Show.

"How long had you been with him?" she asked obviously wanting to know whether she came first or not.

"Four years." I said glaring at Danny. "You?"

"Two years." she said obviously close to tears. The audience gasped once again. My heart broke into even smaller pieces.  _I've been cheated on for half of the time I have been with him!_  "I'm so sorry." She said and I was surprised that she thought it was her fault.

"It was completely not your fault." I said my tone gentle as I walked towards her and gave her a hug to prove I wasn't angry with her. The crowd 'ahh'ed as we hugged. Then things got interesting.

"You should be ashamed of yourself." One woman piped up, she was with two small kids near the back of the crowd and she was glaring at Danny fiercely. "You've betrayed both of these young and beautiful girls."

"Yeah, they trusted you and you took advantage of them!" A young American man shouted to him. "You don't deserve their love!"

Soon a few more voices rung out to shame him even more and the owner from the cafe next door gave both me and the other blonde a large frappe 'to use as ammo'. We took them as she gave Danny a glare and looked at each other before walking over to the now cowering Danny.

"This is for lying to me for so long." I said tears escaping from my eyes as I poured the vanilla frappe over his head with applause from the crowd who were staring to get their phones and cameras out. I then slapped him hard on the cheek. He held his cheek not looking at me but instead at the sea below our feet. My locket I threw over the side into the deep waters below as the other blonde followed suit and disposed of her frappe to cheers and applause. A lot of people were capturing this on camera just to add another lot of humiliation on him.

"That was for lying to me and betraying her." She said pointing to me after slapping him again. I only looked around briefly before looking back to the sea. My brain had now caught up and was finally fully registering what had happened. I never wanted to see him again. Tears streamed down my face before I wiped them away and tried to calm myself since I had to go back to my friends. Slowly the crowd dispersed after Danny ran off, his tail between his legs.

"Are you going to be okay?" the blonde asked coming over and leaning on the rails next to me. I wiped my cheeks again and gave a weak smile and nodded. I still needed to get it together a little bit more before I could speak though I knew I had a lot more crying to do to be able to fully move on.

"Hey, if you ever wanted to meet up or just talk about stuff, here's my number." The blonde said smiling and giving me a piece of paper. I almost wanted to laugh because it sounded as if she was chatting me up. Her eyes widened as she thought the same thing.

"No no I didn't... I'm Rosie. I hope we can be friends even after this." She said smiling at me hopefully. She didn't seem as effected by this as I was but I guess everyone is different.

"I'm Abby." I managed smiling at her and nodded.

"Okay then Abby, see you soon!" she said hugging me again, all of a sudden happy and not at all upset. She waved as she walked down the pier happily on her own.

I closed my eyes and took deep breaths and Rachel now joined me.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have shown you." She said and I opened my eyes in shock. "Well yeah I should've but you know what I mean." She said her lips turning up in a smile that she couldn't hold in. "How long do you think it will be before you speak again?" she said her Irish voice back to its normal tone as if this hadn't happened.  _I wish I could be like that._

"My cousins don't know what happened so I guess I'll try to be normal in front of them by speaking. Once I get home though, I have no idea how long it will take." I said trying to make my voice sound as normal as possible. She nodded as we started to walk back.

"You're going to keep it from them? Come on Abby they're family, they'll want to know so they can help you through it." She said looking at me as if I was crazy.

"I'll tell them eventually, I just need some time to think about it on my own. And besides Ben would punch his face in if he found out yet."

"Is that such a bad thing?"

I gave her a look and she laughed. "Alright alright, I trust you enough to not tell them for you."

"Thank you." I said hugging her as we got to the foot of the pier.

"You're welcome and I'd just like to say that I'm proud of you for being able to stand up to him all of those people watching. Not many have the guts to do that."

I shrugged and gave her a mini smile as she headed off ahead of me.

"See ya and good luck keeping the secret." She called back to me waving.

As soon as she'd gone, the feelings that had been temporarily pushed aside came crashing down again. I walked back to our spot as normal as I could considering what I'd just seen but inside I just wanted to collapse on the floor and cry for the rest of the day.  _You just have to act normal for another hour or so and then you can go home and cry. Come on Abigail, you can do this._  I let out a big breath and hoped no-one noticed my tearstained eyes that I had tried to clean up. "Got it." I said smiling and holing up the Boots bag before putting some of it on my arms then starting to use it on Grace. I tried to solely focus on Grace and tried not to look at Evelyn who would know something was up as soon as she looked me in the eyes.

I felt the air tense though as soon as I said that though and my cousin shot a worried look towards me, "Abby...?" Evelyn stood from her spot and came over to me, "What's wrong...?" she asked a worried look clouding her features.

"Nothing's wrong." I said smiling at her but not looking her directly in the eyes. Grace was all done so I passed the sun cream on to Federico who was quite red.  _Huh, it looks like I was wrong about more than one thing today._  "Oh can you tell me your address so I know where to go tomorrow?" I said casually as my phone beeped with a text. I ignored it and turned my phone off, I didn't want to talk about it. Now both Maria and Claudia were looking at me concerned as well. I was trembling underneath my mask of happiness and I knew it would not be long before the walls fell.  _I need music now!_  I took out my iPod and put my earphones in trying to get temporary comfort from the music playing.

Evelyn grabbed the sun cream from Federico as she pursed her lips at her me, "I'm gonna find out what's wrong with you Abby. I hate it when you lie." She said as she helped Federico put the sun cream on his back, she stared straight at me, "Seriously, you're avoiding my eyes then you start music, that only happens when you're upset..." she was so absorbed with me that she had accidently pressed too hard on the sunburn on Federico's shoulders.

"Careful  _bella donna_!" Federico said wincing at the pressure as he watched Petruccio draw in the sand with his fingers.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." I denied turning up the music a little higher. I hated when Evelyn was like this because I knew she wasn't going to give up. Evelyn petted Federico's hair for a few seconds before looking up at me, sending another worried glance my way.

"Abby I'm not gonna give up on this. Even if I have to FOLLOW you home, I will do it!" Evelyn threatened, still worried about me. I bit my lip at the threat. We were so close and it hurt me to keep it from her but if I told her now I would break down in front of all of them and that was the worst thing ever. I shook my head and leant my head on my knees.

"I can't, I'm sorry." Then I spotted Ben and Jenny walking down the promenade to us so I got up and grabbed my stuff hastily.

"See you later guys." I threw back over my shoulder as I walked away. As I passed them, Ben and Jenny saw my face and threw a concerned look at me then one at the others but I hurried off before they could say anything.


	9. The Police Station

As soon as I got through the front door the tears started to flow freely down my cheeks again. Now that I was alone I could completely let go of all normality and express what I had been hiding. _How could someone who seemed so nice for so long turn out to such a two faced bastard? Answer: When they're a very good liar_. I rushed upstairs and changed into a hoodie and jogging bottoms - my crying clothes. As soon as I'd changed I walked up to my music room, sat down in front of my piano and played the first thing that came to me with the tears continuing to fall uninterrupted. I had two years to account for. As I played sobs started to escape from my throat. What my heart felt like is indescribable.

**...**

A while later there came a soft knock at the door. I did not respond but I still heard the calming voice from the other side of the door.

"Abby may I come in?"

It was Maria. I ended my song and got my legs to move towards the door to open it. Fresh tears followed the paths of their ancestors down my cheeks and onto the floor. I opened the door and looked at her though the tears were distorting my vision. I ran my fingers through my fringe and looked at the carpet below.

"Abby,  _bambina_   **(Child)** , what happened?" she asked taking my hand and leading me over to the bed. I sat next to her putting my head in my hands. The sense of betrayal was overwhelming and I was struggling to even find the right words. More sobs escaped as I tried to control myself enough to let the words form in my mouth. She put a hand on my shoulder and squeezed it gently, trying to sooth me. I wished my  _mutti_   **(mum)**  was here with me too.

"I-I found out t-that Danny had been... cheating on me for t-two years." I managed stumbling on some of the words before breaking down again and collapsing in on myself. My thoughts reverberated around my head like deafening echoes. I closed my eyes and tried to push them away. We stayed in silence for a few minutes and soon her presence started to have the calming effect that most mothers do.

"I know it is hard Abby but you know it will be worth the pain and anger when you meet the one you are truly meant to be with. It may be a long wait with more pain on the way but you will find them in the end." She said wisely taking my both of my hands in hers. It took a few moments but her words found their way into my heart and created a beacon in the darkness I was trapped in. I looked at her and gave her a mini smile. We dissolved back into a comfortable silence as I calmed.

"Thank you." I whispered as she stood up and headed towards the door. She turned back to me and nodded her head in response before walking out and shutting the door leaving me in privacy once again. Wiping more tears away, I walked over to the piano and resumed playing again.

**...**

"Bella?" came the next voice in the form of Ezio. This time I didn't respond to it at all. I looked at the clock briefly and was relieved that I had another 2 hours before I was due to perform. I needed to get my act together soon. There was a sigh then the door closed behind him as he walked further into the room. I was a little surprised when he came from behind and forced my hands away from the piano and closed the lid. "You have been playing for hours; we are all so worried about you."

I shook my head and closed my eyes. I would've shoved my hands from his grip but they were being held in a grasp like iron. I couldn't play. My emotions built up again with no release. I curled up on the piano chair as best I could and started to sob, the breath catching in my throat.

Suddenly he was sitting next me with his arms, no longer around my wrists, but around me, encasing me in a hug. I looked at him for a surprised moment before leaning into him and continuing my crying but actually feeling a little better. Another beacon lit up. I guess I just needed confirmation that not all men are arseholes. After a few minutes of just sitting there with him rubbing my arm soothingly and muttering things inaudible to me, I felt my eyes close on their own and a sigh escape my lips. I was relaxed and nearly asleep. I heard (and felt) him chuckle as the door opened again.

"How is she?" Ben asked but gave a soft 'oh' when I think he spotted me.

"She's asleep, I took her hands away from the piano and she curled up and relaxed in my arms." he said quietly too.

"Really?... Well I don't think she'll be performing tonight. I'll ring the restaurant and explain what happened." I was relieved that another weight had been lifted from my shoulders so I drifted further into the land of sleep.

"Did my mother tell you what happened to her?"

"Yes she did..."

The last thing I remember is being picked up before I truly drifted off.

**…**

When I woke up, I could hear people already downstairs. I blinked and sat up a little confused because I was in my own room rather than on the sofa. I looked at the clock, 7:00AM. 

 _Huh?_  

Then the whole of yesterday washed over me again. This was the only time I'd ever slept in. I heard a knock on the door and Ben came in holding a tub of Ben and Jerry's and a spoon.

"Hey" said Ben looking at me concerned. I nodded my head in response. He gave a small smile.

' _Hey'_  I said with just a nod as he sat down on my bed.

"How are you feeling?" he asked putting the tub and spoon down and hugging me. I hugged him back and gave him a mini smile.

I shrugged but gave a bit of a bigger smile to show him I was improving a bit. After a little sleep and kind gestures and words from both Maria and Ezio, I had taken steps closer to being my old self again.

"Good, I brought this for you." He said handing me the large tub and the cutlery. I took the ice cream gratefully and opened the lid. The first mouthful was like heaven in my mouth, chocolate ice cream was definitely my ultimate comfort food. "Maria told me what happened." He was already looking a little angry. Like I've said before he is totally over protective. I knew it only a matter of time before he hunted Danny down and beat him to. He had hurt me so Ben would hurt him. I didn't really want it to end up like that but Ben would not be persuaded otherwise.

"I know." I said before shoving more ice cream into my mouth. 

"That son of a bitch is going to pay big time for hurting you!" He snarled clenching his fists and punching the bed. He was short tempered just like me and our father.

I just gave him a look. The last thing I needed was for him to do something stupid. I had enough on my plate already without this!

"How is it stupid to give him a taste of his own medicine?" He was not calming down anytime soon. I took another big mouthful of heaven and laid down in bed thinking things over again. In my head I saw a picture of Danny looking like he'd picked a fight with a boxing champion. Yeah it would be nice to let him get what he deserves but my conscience was telling me it wasn't right.

"Violence isn't always the answer to everything." I mumbled with my mouth still full of ice cream.

"Abs you don't understand, unless something is done he will continue to cheat on a lot of other girls in the future. We need to save them from him!"

He made a good argument plus... my conscience agreed with me that Danny won't catch any chicks with a face coloured black and blue.

"Fine." I huffed eventually.

"Thank you." And with that he left me alone.

I finished off my ice cream then tried to get some sleep.

**...**

I now knew two things. 1) Federico snores and 2) Both Claudia and I must be very deep sleepers to sleep through THAT! Not surprisingly I gave up on trying to sleep and instead wearily got up to make myself and Ezio some coffee.

Once it was done, I poured out two cups of coffee and took one upstairs to Petruccio's room. I knocked on the door and it was opened by a smiling Petruccio.

" _Guten morgen Abby, wie geht's dir?_   **(Good morning Abby, how are you?)** " He said happily and I couldn't help but flash a mini smile at him with my tear stained face.

" _Guten morgen Petruccio, ich bin gut danke und du?_ **(Good morning Petruccio, I'm good thanks and you?)** " I said with as much happiness as I could muster. I was pleased that his German was coming along nicely.

" _Ich bin prima danke!_ **(I'm great thanks!)** " he said looking at me with his curious eyes and I knew he didn't believe my reply one bit.

' _Sehr gut Petruccio!_ **(Very good Petruccio)** _'_

" _Danke schön_ **(Thank you very much)** " he said as I walked into the room and gave Ezio his coffee.

"Thank you." He said smiling at me.

"I should be thanking you." I said  standing by the door to the living room. He looked back at me with sleepy but widened eyes.

"For what?" he said looking shocked but there was a hint of a smile.

"You know what! It was really nice of you." I smiled at him. That was the first proper smile I had done in what felt like forever.

"It was nothing." He said as I walked back out of the room and back towards my pit of self-pity.

**...**

Because sleep was not an option (thank you Federico), I ignored the 30 missed calls from Danny ( _why haven't I deleted his number already?)_  and texted Evie.

_Abby: Hey, sorry about yesterday I'm feeling a bit better now. Can I still come over and help you unpack?_

_Evie: It's fine, though when you come over, I want to hear what happened!_

_Abby: Fine._

After that she sent directions. I sighed, got up and threw my phone onto the bed. I had to clean myself up before I went round Evie's.

**...**

Following her directions, I found her house in no time. I rung the doorbell and got my mini whiteboard ready. I just hoped explaining it wouldn't set me off again. The door swung open to a happy looking Evelyn.

"Come on in!" she said, stepping out of the doorway so I could come in, "Don't mind the mess, I only got to my bedroom before I passed out." she said with a smile, rubbing the back of her neck.

"It's not too bad."I walked into the house and shutting the front door. There were boxes everywhere but that's what I expected.  _'_ You have a lot of stuff'

 "Oh man!  _Vati's_ **(Dad short for Vater which means father)**  the best!" she grinned when she saw the brand new Xbox that one box contained. Her happy mood was very contagious!

"Wow! Got any games for that?" I said to her, looking over her shoulder though I stepped away from the Xbox a little. I was still a little wary of Xboxes in general since the Auditores appeared.

Evelyn looked at the board and shook her head, "Why don't you look through this box, you might find some. We can play after I set my TV up," she suggested as she dragged another large box into the living room.

"On it."I said while tearing away the sellotape and searching through the contents of the box. I found a few games like Call of Duty and Portal 2 and took them out of the box before I stumbled across a game with a familiar looking man on the cover. Assassin's Creed 2. 

 _Damn! That's the game with the Auditores in it isn't it? She's gonna find out if she plays it! What to do, what to do_...

I thought as I handled it. Luckily I hadn't taken it out of the box so I just left it there and got out Assassin's Creed instead because it said Altair something-or-over not Ezio. I sealed the box back up and picked up the selection of games we had. 'Looks like Uncle Alton really spoiled you!' I said kneeling on the floor next to Evelyn.

Evelyn smiled and cut through a new box, this one full of her weakness; stuffed animals, "Eh hehe...Looks like  _Mutti_  got me some more to my collection..." she said as she held a purple giraffe up. Evelyn's face lit up and smiled, "His name is Lorenzo!" she announced, giggling like the history nerd she was.

I laughed. "Let me guess, it's named after someone historical like the rest of your collection?' I undid another box and found some photo albums and frames containing many pictures and memories. I found one of me and Evelyn as little 7 year old girls standing in the snow and showed it to her.

Evelyn giggled lightly, "Lorenzo de Medici had a giraffe sent to him by another political higher up!" she set the giraffe down before moving over to me, "Wow...I was short back them too..." she laughed harmlessly, "Time sure does fly when we have fun!"

"Am I supposed to know who Lorenzo de whatever is?' I groaned, giving her a small smile. I failed my history exams badly, so badly in fact that it was left ungraded. I hated history but hated geography even more. I just didn't see the point in them. I got a D on my maths and physics exams but they were too complicated... or so I like to think.

"He was the prince of Florence back in the fifteenth century, maybe your Italian friends know him!" she giggled. She ripped open another package and smiled "That man...He packed my old history books!" 

 _1_ _5th century, maybe they do_.

I kept looking through the photos and sometimes smiling at the memories that surfaced. My happy mood was growing and I liked it. I even decided to ask a question that I was curious about.  _'_ Hey Evelyn, what was all that flirting with Federico about, do you like him?' I shuffled closer to my cousin and looked at her eagerly awaiting the answer.

Evelyn spluttered and almost dropped her next box. She whipped her head to look at me, "I-I don't...No!" she said rather quickly. I raised both eyebrows at her too quick response. 

 _Busted!_  I thought as I smiled brightly and started to bounce on my seat.

 _'_ You like him! No way! Oh this is great!' My mind already planning future dates for them. My happy mood just kept getting better and better.

Evelyn turned a deeper shade of red. "Abby! We only just met!" she exclaimed, shaking her head. "How can I already be crushing on him...Plus I'm sure he has a girlfriend." she muttered.

'Love at first sight duh! And didn't you see how he looked at you? He was totally in love! Besides I don't think he would flirt with you if he had!' I said with a squeal, my grin only getting bigger at her blush. Federico had never mentioned a girlfriend before so I was certain that he hadn't got one. I made a mental note to grill him about it sometime.

Evelyn was completely speechless, hiding her face in her hands, "I-I hate it when you know this stuff!" she groaned before going to another box and taking it into another room.

I got up and followed her, still happy.  _'_ No you don't you love it! Now, do you want me to arrange a date between you two?' I wrote before holding the board close to her face so she couldn't ignore it.

Evelyn looked at me in deep thought and groaned softly, "Fine...Fine, do whatever you please," she waved me off as she set her TV up, "Grab the Xbox, will you?"

I grinned and practically jumped on my cousin while squeezing her in a tight hug before getting off her, finally allowing her to breathe.  _'Yes,_   _danke_   **(Thank you)**   _Evie you are the best!'_  I already had the location and time planned and it would be AWESOME! I headed into the other room where the Xbox was and stopped a few metres away from it. I didn't want to go near it but I didn't want Evelyn to ask questions just yet. In the end I sandwiched it between two cushions and held it that way. There was no way I was touching one with my hands again, plugged in or not. I put it down, removed the cushions and tapped Evelyn on the shoulder to signify that I'd done it.

Evelyn sighed at me and smiled, "Thanks Ab," she hooked the Xbox up and stood, "what games did Vati pack?" she asked, grabbing the two wireless controllers. I got the games from the other room and put them in a pile next to her making sure Assassin's Creed was at the bottom. I really hoped she didn't pick it because I didn't want her to like it and see if there was a sequel to it. Suddenly my phone buzzed and played its ringtone. I looked at it briefly but ignored it once I saw that it was Danny.

"Hmm..." the brunette looked through games till she got to Portal smiled, "This one!" she said happily as she bounced over to the Xbox and put it into the disk slot. I internally sighed with relief when she picked that. "We haven't played video games in so long! This will be like old times!" she turned to her cousin and smiled softly.

I picked up my discarded phone and twirled it around in my hands. 

 _Maybe I should call him and warn him about Ben, maybe I should call him and let him give me his explanation. Oh god I don't know..._  

I let Danny burst the happy bubble Evie had created for me. I didn't even notice the controller land beside me. Evelyn looked up at the sound of the other game controller thudding to the floor. She set her controller down and went over to me,

"Abby? Abby? Come on girl, Answer me..." she gripped my shoulders and proceeded to shake me a bit in hopes it'd snap me out of it, "What is wrong?" Tears started to flow down my cheeks again. 

 _And today was going so well._  

I looked at her and opened my mouth to tell her properly. It took a few tries but I managed to get my voice to work.

"I was... thinking about yesterday. Evie I... I found out yesterday that D-Danny... Danny cheated on me for two years!" I said between breaths and sobs. I was breaking down in front of my cousin. Evelyn immediately drew me close and shushed me,

"I knew something was up with him... _est tut mir leid_   **(I'm sorry)** Abby."

I hugged my cousin tightly and tried to stop crying. I didn't want it to happen but at least I had told her. "How could I have been so stupid? Two years, that is such a long time for me not to notice!" I said in a shaky voice. I watched the screen as it lit up with the Xbox logo.

"It's not your fault, Danny tricked you, even I couldn't see that..." she said, rubbing my back comfortingly. Evelyn really hates when I cry just like I do on the rare occasions she does. I slowly released Evelyn and wiped my eyes. I thought about yesterday and what Maria said as well as what Evelyn had said just now. They were both right of course. I calmed down a bit and smiled.

"Thank you." I said picking up the controller and looking at the TV again. Evelyn smiled softly at me and selected Portal 2 on the menu.

"Let's just have some fun and forget about men all together, they just cause trouble."

She created a new Xbox gamer profile and waited for it to load up. I nodded and smiled too. I could let Ben settle this for me. Now I was single I could focus on my family and friends who support me through times like that.

**...**

I left Evelyn's house around mid afternoon. We had gotten so engrossed in the game that we didn't realise what time it was. Walking home I felt like a genius because we'd figured out all of the puzzles by ourselves (well there was one...). We hadn't completed it but we had made a start. 

_Einstein eat your heart out!_

I got to the house and let myself in. The mood inside it was peaceful and that made me smile because it was only like that when there was a lack of annoying people in it (aka the boys, except young Petruccio, were out).

"Hello Abby." Petruccio said running down the stairs to greet me. I waved back after hanging my coat up on a hook and taking my shoes off.

"How are you? Mamma said you were... sad." Petruccio said frowning. He made his first proper English sentence outside of tutoring. I was a little prouder and he had even said a few words I had not taught him yet. Obviously hearing us talk and having parents to translate helps. Maybe they had even told him what to say.

'I am okay Petruccio. Thank you for asking. _'_  I said softly, not using any abbreviations because he hadn't learnt them yet. I smiled at him when he continued to look at me. Maria and Giovanni both smiled at me when I walked into the living room. They were sitting on the sofa together holding hands. That was the sweetest thing that I had seen all day, I had rarely seen my parents like that because they were always busy. My father running his shop, my mother in the kitchen cooking some amazing dish. I smiled back at them before going into the kitchen to get my lunch (an apple) then running back through and upstairs to my room where Claudia most likely was.

I found her looking at my mirror. I coughed and that seemed to get her to notice me.

'You know it is a little vain to stare at your reflection all day.' I said cracking a joke. She looked at me seriously so I guess she didn't get it.

"I was not staring at myself!" Claudia snapped glaring at me.  _  
_

'I was joking!' I wrote before putting up my hands in surrender.

"Oh, I knew that." She said looking back at the mirror. I rolled my eyes and nodded. It was easy to see why she was looking at it though, photos and pictures were secured around the frame of the mirror leaving only a little rectangle of mirror visible to use.

"What are these? They are more detailed than any painting I've ever seen and they're so small too!" she said touching one with her fingers and running them across the smooth surface.

'They're called photos and they are taken by this _._ ' I explained before picking up my digital camera and pointing it at her and taking one of her. I pushed the playback button and saw the image of a perplexed Claudia looking into the lens. _  
_

 _That's a keeper._  

I smiled and showed it to her. She stared at the screen in amazement.

"How does it do that?"

'It uses electricity. _'_

"Oh." She said handing me back the camera and smiling in a way that told me that she had no clue what I was on about.

'It's very hard to explain and I'm no expert.'

I then spotted a picture of me and Danny surrounded by pink heart.  _Time for a new picture there I think._  I plucked it off of the mirror and threw it in the waste paper basket before hunting around my room for my Polaroid. It's retro I know but I liked the instantness of it so I had hung on to it. I found it after a few moments and sat down next to Claudia on the stall in front of the dresser and mirror.

"Smile." I said while holding the camera up in front of us. A couple of seconds later we were holding the photo and laughing.

"That is amazing."

"Now let's put it up." I got out some Blu Tack and stuck it in the empty spot that Danny had left. "Perfect."

**...**

A couple of hours later, when I was making dinner, the phone rang with an unrecognised caller. 

_I hope this isn't a cold call!_

"Hello?"

"Hello ma'am are you Abigail Freilich-Jones?" the woman on the other end of the phone asked. Freilich-Jones is my full name but I usually drop the first bit because then it's shorter and I avoid stereotypical (and sometimes offensive) talk from others.

"Yes I am, who's calling?" I said using my posher telephone voice because, yes, everyone has one whether they know it or not.

"This is Southwold Police Station I'm calling because some people who claim to know you are here in custody."

_Great, I knew Ben would get in trouble._

"What happened?" I said concerned. Of course I knew but you had to ask.

"There was a street fight earlier on this afternoon and a man was severely injured."

"Oh my." I said a little shocked. 

_Severely?_

"The man has not pressed charges though so could you please come and collect them?" the woman seemed a little shocked at that as it showed through her official voice. So was I, it seems that Danny did have a miniscule bit of kindness in his cold heart.

"Of course, I'll be right there." I said before they hung up. I shook my head and walked to the hallway and slipped on some shoes.

"Is everything alright?" Giovanni asked walking into the hallway and seeing me putting my jacket on.

"Ezio, Federico and Ben are at the police station, they caused a street fight this afternoon and severely injured a man who I'm guessing is my ex-boyfriend Danny." I explained grabbing my car keys. His concerned face soon turned angry.

"I should've known they would cause something like this. I am sorry." He said his voice annoyed and maybe even a little disappointed.

"It's alright, it's not your fault."

**...**

They were all looking a bit worse for wear when I came to collect them from custody. Ben had a black eye and bleeding knuckles, Federico had a big bruises on his cheek and forehead and Ezio had a bleeding nose and lip. All three of them did not meet my eyes as I greeted them in their cells. They were ashamed and that was a good sign, at least they were now facing the consequences of their actions. I apologised to every police officer involved for them since they did not have the courage to utter a single word to anyone it was only in the car that they dared speak.

"Abby-" Ben started but I glared at him in the rear view mirror and that shut him up. They sat in silence until Federico tried.

" _Signorina_ **(Miss)** I-"

"Save it." I snapped and that too shut him up. We drove in silence until we arrived back at the house. I could see Giovanni watching us through the front window.

"Exactly how mad was  _padre_?" Ezio asked through his wad of tissues.

"Let's just say you will have to do a lot to get in his good books again."

" _Merda_ " He cursed before he got out of the car.


	10. A&E

"Ah!" Ezio said wincing as I wiped his split lip with an antiseptic wipe. I moved the wipe away for a moment before using my hand to turn his face towards me once more.

"Stop whining Ezio, you're lucky you don't need stitches because we would have to go to A&E and wait for four hours in a boring waiting room for you to get them and I am not doing that." I said wiping his lip once more. When I was satisfied that it wasn't going to get infected and start spewing pus I would wipe the dried blood from his face. While doing that I was trying not to look down at his topless chest (his shirt was stained with blood).  _Damn look at that freaking 6-pack, how can lazy Ezio be able to maintain that?!_

"A&E?" He said a little obscured because I was still wiping his lip.

"Accident and Emergency, it's a section at a big medical facility called a hospital where most people go if a normal doctor can't do anything about it."

"I see," he said in thought as I finally finished and allowed him to eat a little bit of his meal while I ate some of mine. "At least you're speaking again." He looked at me while I ate which was a little unnerving.

"..." I said nothing as I finally realised that I was. It was a little shocking since I was expecting to be unable to for a while considering what had happened that afternoon but I was feeling even more normal now.

"I guess I am, obviously it took 3 idiots to change that." I said smiling and getting another wet wipe and starting on the blood above his upper lip and on his chin and neck.

"Ouch, your words hurt Abby." Said Ezio acting very melodramatic and a bit sarcastic. That made me smile.

"Why thank you." I said my melodramatic tone matching his. "You know with your... strong physique I'm a little surprised that you got these injuries in the first place." Ezio looked at me with an amused smile and his flirty eyes.

"Ah if it had been just us and him there would have been no problem I can assure you. Unfortunately the two-timer had reinforcements." He said with a cocky grin I rolled my eyes and smiled too.

"Right." I said finishing up and slapping his cheek lightly. "You're good to go." I got up and was about to leave when I felt him take my hand stopping me from going.

"You're not going to keep me company?" He said giving a small smile and a displaying minor puppy dog eyes. Unluckily puppy dog eyes is my only kryptonite. I moved out of his grip but came back to him. The gesture had been a little weird and unexpected but in a good way. We were becoming friends and I liked that.

"You're supposed to getting punished, your father would probably shout at me for being in here and keeping you entertained." I said standing in front of him with my hands on my hips powerfully. That made him smile even more.

"Well I think I got my punishment." He said gesturing to his face.

"Of course! No woman in their right mind would go out with you now that you have a clean face and a split lip that will heal!" I said fake shocked and completely sarcastic. He laughed and I was glad he understood my sarcasm because his brother sure didn't. I laughed too and looked down at his arms.

"It looks like that permanent marker just doesn't want to come off." I said taking hold of his arm, persuading myself not to test if his bicep was rock hard, and looking at the still visible numbers. I could feel his eyes on me and I looked up. "What?"

"So now you are admiring my arms  _and_  my chest?" He said smirking at me. I dropped his arm like it was a hot potato.

"No! I wasn't-" I said rushed before stopping myself and looking away.

"Are you blushing  _bella_?"

"No." I said finally looking him in the eyes again. He chuckled and ate more of his dinner.

"This is... really good." He said smiling and eating more and changing the subject.

"Thank you, it's called a roast dinner and it's an English tradition to eat it on a Sunday. For dessert I made a really nice German cake called  _Streuselkuchen_  which my mum showed me how to make when I was little."

"Is it your mother's recipe?"

"No but I think she made it the best. She was always in the kitchen making something amazing. Ooh Christmas was the best, at Christmas my mum and I would bake loads of Christmas biscuits and place them around the house in baskets. My friends always loved my mum's Christmas biscuits."

Ezio nodded and smiled since his mouth was full, I laughed and I think he nearly choked when he started laughing too.

"Don't... do that!" he said in between coughs after swallowing his food.

"Do what?" I said still laughing.

"That! You're laugh is contagious." He said finally stopping coughing.

"I can't help when I laugh!" I said finally calming down. Then there was a knock at the door.

"Abby are you talking to Ezio?" I heard Giovanni say from the other side of the door.

"Noooooo..." I said covering my mouth to stop myself laughing. Ezio was having a hard time. Before he opened the door I shoved the remaining food in my mouth and walked towards the door.

"That's very unlady like Abby." He said making me turn around and put my hands on my hips again and roll my eyes. Once I finished my mouthful I stuck my tongue out at him before grabbing the first aid kit and went downstairs under the scrutinizing glare of Giovanni. I have to admit that the mini lecture I got from Giovanni for that was completely worth it. Ezio is fun to be around!

For the rest of the evening I sat downstairs (I was being punished for that by not being able to go upstairs!) and texted my friends. They were all fine, Carly's new little girl is called Aimee and she looked so cute in the picture she sent me! Kirsty was back with her American boyfriend Ash and Rachel was planning a photo shoot for her DeviantArt. She persuaded me to model for her next week but I'm only doing it because she's paying me and she has good taste in clothes too! I also contacted Lisa who told me a waitress job was available at her cafe and that I could come for a formal interview that Wednesday. I have experience in being a waitress because I worked part-time for the University campus cafe while I was studying there.

I also had to take a phone call from Darren - Ben's boss down at the garage. Darren heard about the fight and Ben has been suspended for a couple of weeks unless he makes a formal apology to Danny and whoever else was involved in the fight. That meant that no money would be coming in so I desperately needed that job otherwise we would not be able to pay the bills that month or be able to feed all eight of us. I would need to work full time and have to buy the cheapest stuff in the supermarket I could find. Having the Auditores may be fun but it is very expensive!

**...**

On Wednesday I went to the interview and within a few hours Lisa called to say that I had the job.  _Yes! Now we might actually be able to survive until Ben gets back to the garage._  Ben didn't make the apology even though I called Mum and Dad, Dad practically had a heart attack when he found what Danny had done to me. Mum had urged him to make the apology and we had to quickly say goodbye when they started questioning the snippets of Italian they heard through the phone.  _I am definitely getting better at lying with all this practice I'm getting!_ When I told Claudia I was not going to be there to go to the beach with her the next day because of work, she really began to show how spoilt she truly was.

"You have to work?" she said disgusted like I'd just said that she would have to live off of nothing but mud for the next two weeks.

"If you want food then yes. Ben has been suspended for another week and a half and we have run out of money!" I said getting a little annoyed by the fact how pompous she was acting. She looked at me like I had slapped her around the face. Obviously my tone had been a little more angry than I had first thought.

"But surely women are not allowed to work." She said and I calmed a little at that because I knew, crap at history as I was, that women in her time period hadn't been allowed to work because they had been branded weak and less intelligent than men.

"Yeah we are, women in this century are almost equal to men." I say almost equal because in most jobs women are paid a little less and we still aren't allowed to fight on the front line in the army. Then she pulled a face and that got me annoyed at her again.

"Well I feel sorry for you." She said her wealthy voice full of pity for me, an example of a working class person only just affording anything.

"Really? You feel sorry for me? How could you even begin to? You and your family are so well off and Ben and I are just keeping our heads above the water! You will never run out of money or have to live off of basics but I have and I probably will in the future! We have barely enough money to feed all of you and if people ever find out you're staying with us for a long amount of time we will probably be arrested for housing illegal immigrants because that's what you are at this moment in time!" I said my voice gaining more acid the more I went on, I saw Claudia visibly shrink away from me as I ranted at her.

"And as for working I doubt you will ever have to lift a finger compared to me and Ben who, unless we either win the lottery or get a lucky break somehow, will have to work until we retire to be able to even think of spending our old age enjoying ourselves. You are lucky and I'm not but I don't think you have any reason to pity me." I said finishing my rant, and seeing the tears welling up in Claudia's eyes, running out of the room and slamming the door. I was so wound up I wanted to punch something instead of playing music so I went into the music room, past a stunned Ezio who had come up the stair because of the shouting, shut myself in there and did the most stupidest thing ever. I punched a wall. As I did I heard an almighty crack and a rush of pain flared in my hand as I muffled a scream.  _Shit shit shit that hurts!_  I cradled my hand and inspected it, it was already starting to swell. I heard a knocking at the door and a quite angry Ezio barged in and grabbed the front of my shirt.

"What the fuck did you say to my sister?!" he growled shaking me as I held my injured hand.

"Piss off Ezio I don't need this now!" I snapped back trying to push him away one handed. He caught my arm and squeezed it. Hard.

"You made my sister cry and now I want answers!" he said shoving me backwards and onto the floor.

"I shouted at her because she was being a pompous bitch!" I snapped though backing away from the advancing Ezio. He growled again, pulled me up and slapped me across the face. I fell back down stunned.

"Do not call my sister that again!" He was about to lunge for me when he was caught by the back of his collar and flung away from me. Ben had now entered the room and was standing between me and a seething Ezio.

"What the hell is going on?" he asked looking between me and him. Neither of us spoke and so he continued to stare at us. I looked down at my hand again and it was now bleeding onto the carpet from when I had used it to break a part of my fall.  _This is bad, I need to go to A &E now!_ I got up, brushed myself off and shoved past Ben as I rushed downstairs, grabbing my phone, bag and iPod before rushing out of the door. Everyone downstairs had looked at me shocked and confused as to what happened.

**...**

The four hours at A&E gave me time to calm down and realise that I had been stupid and let my anger take control.  _Claudia is, well probably was, a great friend and I think I've lost her over something small she said! She's entitled to her opinion and I completely ignored that. I'm such an idiot!_  I had to have an X-ray which told me that my knuckles were pretty messed up and I would have to wear a cast for at least a month which meant that my new job would not start well.

The wait at A&E meant that I didn't get out of hospital until 11 o'clock and I was still dreading going back home and having to explain so with the change in my purse I went to the pub and got myself a pint of beer.  _Thank god for the NHS_ **(National Health Service, it gives free medical treatment for British taxpaying citizens)** _otherwise I would've been screwed!_  It was mostly full of drunk men, a few of which tried to chat me up, but even though I stayed there until last orders when I realised I had to go home. I wasn't exactly sober but I wasn't so pissed that I couldn't remember my own name, however I was at the point where I couldn't exactly walk straight. I made it to the front door before my legs gave way and I ended up deciding to give up and sleep outside. Even though it was cold I felt my eyes droop and it wasn't long before I was sleeping off the alcohol.

I don't know how long I was out before someone was whispering to me and poking me. I reluctantly opened my eyes and looked at the person crouched down beside me. It was Claudia.

"Claaudia? W-what are you doing here?" I said slurring a little because I was still a little drunk.

"I heard some noise outside and then I found you out here. I've been waiting for you to come back." She said, her voice gentle and her eyes red with a mixture of tears and lack of sleep.

"You have? But why? I shouted at you and was a total bitch. You should be hating me!" I said close to tears myself, though I think it was more the alcohol than anything.

"It was partly my fault, I was a bitch too." She said looking down at my hand in its cast. "What happened?"

"I punched a wall." I said before giggling "Then I fell on it." She looked at me before smiling. "I see, come on let's get you inside."

"Okay... Claudia?"

"Si?" she said helping me up.

"Can I tell you a secret?" I whispered putting my face close to her ear.

"Of course you can." She said lifting me slightly so I got over the step and through the door.

"I'm..." I said stalling for tension, and also because I was having a hard time keeping awake.

"Yes?" she said lowering me onto the sofa bed.

"I'm... drunk." I said and I heard her laugh before I passed out again.


	11. Off to Work and Stormy Seas

I woke up to being poked again and someone persistently talking extremely loudly at me.  _Ow my head hurts... damn I hate alcohol!_

"Abby please, our lesson!" Petruccio whined poking me some more. I groaned and turned over burying my head in the pillow. Now I was more awake I began to feel pain in my hand too.

"Ezio... help me!" said Petruccio and now I was contemplating getting up before Ezio actually did something.

" _Naturalmente_ **(Of course)** " said Ezio slyly and I heard footsteps coming closer through my headache.

"I'm up!" I said opening my eyes and getting off of the bed before Ezio reached me. My head still hurt but my hand had overtaken it. Petruccio clapping did not help in the slightest.

I went into the kitchen and took some painkillers while the coffee machine did its thing.

"Abby." A voice piped up as I looked through the kitchen window at the garden watching as a blackbird landed on the lawn and caught a worm in its beak before flying off again. I looked to the sky and looked at the trails of gas left behind by aeroplanes before turning to face Ezio.

"Yes?" I said looking at him though still leaning on the counter with my good hand.

"I'm sorry I fought with you yesterday, Claudia told me what had happened and that it was partly her fault too." He said looking at me solemnly. He was acting like a true gentleman and doing the right thing. I waved his apology off.

"You don't have to be sorry, I have as much to apologise for as you." I said noticing his gaze drop to my hand. I would've preferred it in a fabric brace but the doctor said I would have to wear that lump of plaster of paris for a few weeks first.

"What is that?" he asked walking over to me and taking the cast in his hands turning my hand palm up to see the other side.

"It's called a cast, it's what the doctor gives you if you break an arm of a leg. It keeps it straight so the bone can fix itself in the right place and they don't have to re-break it to set it right." I said watching him continue to examine my injured hand. After a few more moments he let go of my arm and stepped back though now looking me in the eyes.

"Did I cause that?... I saw a blood stain on the floor where you had fallen." he asked, his accented voice now racked with guilt.

"What? No, no I did that by punching a wall." I said chuckling at my own stupidity. "Yeah it wasn't one of my smartest moves."

"You punched a wall?" That got him chuckling and his eyes sparkled at me.

"Yeah. I guess I got  _my_ punishment." I said quoting Ezio from the night before.

"So did the wall."

I laughed at that before going over and hugging him briefly. He hugged me back but looked at me confused when I pulled away. I just shrugged my shoulders.

"That was for defending your family and proving you are very scary when you're angry. Coffee?"

"Let me do it. After all we don't want you hurting yourself anymore than you already are." He said taking the coffee pot from me. I gave him a look and he gave me a charming smile in return. I was glad things had returned to normal between us.

...

After Petruccio's daily lesson and breakfast I went upstairs and knocked on Claudia's bedroom door. I don't think my apology last night counted since I was drunk. I knocked on the door and waited patiently outside as I heard movement (and groans) coming from the other side of the door. It opened and Claudia was there still looking a little sleepy.

"Hey." I said smiling at her.

" _Ciao_." Claudia said smiling back.  _That was a good start!_ "How is your hand?" she asked smirking and crossing her arms.

"Could be better, can I come in?"

She nodded and stepped aside letting me in before closing the door and sitting down on the bed next to me.

"Claudia, I'm really sorry about last night. I completely over reacted." I said looking at her properly and judging her reaction.

"It's alright, you don't need to apologise to me again. You did that last night."

"Yeah but I don't think it counts considering I was drunk."

She laughed and smiled. "It's alright, I was a little bit of a bitch too."

"Friends?"

"We never stopped being them." She said hugging me so tightly I nearly suffocated. I didn't care though because everything was finally how it was except for my hand. "Oh and Abby?"

"Yeah?"

"Please don't be drunk again, you acted really strange." She laughed and went over to the mirror and sat down looking at her reflection.

"I can't promise that!" I said with a smile, I usually get pissed now and again. "Now how would you like your hair?" I asked her thinking about how much like a hairdresser I looked at that moment. "Straight, like yours."

"Okay then."

"Can I style yours too?" she asked looking at my reflection in the photo surrounded mirror. I played with my ponytail for a moment pretending to think before grinning.

"Alright."

**...**

Two hours later we were completely finished and Claudia was with me in Petruccio's room while I played the piano. I play it everyday (usually but I was slacking a bit ever since the Auditores mucked up my daily routine) and I use it to think about things. That day I was thinking about Federico and Evelyn and how they hadn't arranged anything yet,  _I really should; they looked so cute together at the beach._  Then I spotted Ezio walking out of his room from the corner of my eye and decided I should talk to him this. Claudia was a little disappointed that I stopped playing but this was a perfect opportunity to talk with him.

"Ezio!" I said trying to catch his attention as he went down the stairs. He looked back at me and turned around climbing the stairs again.

"What is it? Oh and I like your hair." He said casually noticing the change in my hairstyle.

"Thanks Claudia did it for me." I said moving some of my fringe out of my face. Claudia had insisted I wash my hair but DIDN'T straighten it, at first I refused but she actually wouldn't take no for an answer. It ended up pinned in a knot at the back of my head with a few waving strands framing my face. "I need to talk to you." I finished getting back on track. He nodded and led me into their room.

"What do you want to talk to me about?"

"I need your advice on something."

"Oh?" he said as I sat down on the bed, he was quite confused as well as intrigued.

"Not about me, but about your brother and... my cousin." I said though it sounded a little weird.

"What about them?"

"I remember how cute they looked together and when I was round hers earlier on this week she admitted that she likes him. I also saw the way he looked at her and was wondering if-"

"If he likes her too." He finished for me and I was glad that he understood what I had been going on about.

"Yeah." I said smiling at him from where he stood.

" He has not said anything but I did notice the way he was looking at her. I would definitely say he did."

"Great, I managed to persuade her to let me sort out a date for them too!"

"You were certainly busy over there!" he said with a grin.

"Yeah I was. Now down to business..."

**...**

I won't bore you with the details but together we managed, with Federico's approval of course, to set up a date for them. Immediately afterwards I texted Evie (as easily as I could with a one hand in a plaster cast) with the details and she was a little shocked. I managed to assure her though that it would be fine so eventually we arranged for me to come over beforehand and help her get ready after I finished work.

Now that that was all finished, I picked up my work uniform and went to get changed before heading off to my first day of work. Lisa's cafe is called The Harbour and has a seaside theme. The uniform is a navy and white horizontally striped shirt with navy leggings, teamed with monochrome pumps I was ready to go. I said goodbye to everyone before grabbing my bag and coat and heading out of the door.

Since for some reason I used my left hand to punch, I was good to go on my waitressing job however Lisa put me at the till for my first week. I got to meet a lot of people though and most of them were really nice though there were a few that were too busy with their phones to take much notice of you. I had had my picture taken and hung on the wall in a cute little frame alongside the other staff who were so friendly and nice. However there was one part in the afternoon though that put a sour note in my otherwise great first day.

It was 2 o'clock and I had 2 and a half hours left until we closed, I was feeling a mid-afternoon dip of energy and who should come along to make it even worse?

"Abby?" Danny said pleading at me though I refused to look at him looking at the till instead as I pushed the numbers from his order into it.

"That'll be £2.10 please." I said in my polite stranger voice. I really didn't want this now, I had literally only just over him.

"Abby please, I need to talk to you."

"Yeah well I have nothing to say to you, now £2.10  _please._ " I put real emphasis on the please because I really wanted him to go away and leave me alone. He sighed and gave me the money.

"I just want you to know that I'm sorry."

I just huffed and shook my head.

"Just go."

"But-"

"You heard her, go. You're holding up the queue." Lisa said sternly from behind me, there was no messing with her voice. "Go before I kick you out."

Danny hesitated for a moment and I could feel his eyes on me, I didn't look up for a moment.

"I... I hope your hand gets better." He said before I heard him walk away and the next person in the queue huff glad that the wait was finally over.

"Hey, it's time for your break." Lisa said to me smiling in a concerned way.

"Nah I'm alright, besides this queue isn't gonna shift itself right?"

"Alright but just take it if you need it."

I smiled at her and turned to the impatient customer who was about to break into a hissy fit.

**...**

A few days after I'd started my job, I headed straight for Evelyn's to help her get ready for her date. I was so happy for her (and happy at the fact she agreed to do this). I got to hers in no time and immediately pressed the doorbell. As soon as she opened it I rushed over to her and gave her a big hug to release some of my happy energy.

"Hey." I said after letting her go.  _I'm so excited and I'm not even going on the date!_  Evelyn smiled back. She didn't really look at my hand because I'd already called her about it, her laughter had filled my ear and I actually had to wait for a full minute before she had stopped.

"You are more excited than I am..." she said closing the door and leading me up to her now tidy bedroom. I could see her clothes already laying on the bed, a black tank top, jeans and a floaty off the shoulder pink top.

"Don't be silly," I replied standing in the centre of her large room "I bet you are too... you just aren't showing all of it." I smiled at her choice of clothes; they would look perfect on her.

Evelyn blushed lightly "I am excited, I'm just... nervous. How did he even agree to this?!" she looked at me, messing with her hair. I could see the anxiety in her eyes and it was definitely my job to calm her down.

"Like I've said before he's in LOVE with you! He jumped at the chance." I said guiding her over to the dressing and table where she had also laid all of her stuff out. According to Ezio, Federico didn't hesitate to say yes. When I had heard that, I smiled so brightly I swear it stopped raining. Evelyn blinked and smiled though she looked as if she would jump out of her skin at any given moment. Her smile weakened as I started to style her hair (my hand made it pretty difficult but I could manage since it wasn't my dominant one).

"Are you sure it's not just him being the lady killer we know he is?" she said looking into the mirror.

"I'm 100 percent sure now will you please relax? You're supposed to happy not scared out of your wits!" I said reassuringly while smiling at her through the mirror. I started to experiment with a few styles that would suit her.

"Alright alright." She said before taking a deep breath and closing her eyes. A little while later she opened them, watching me at work. Once I was done with her, make-up and hair, I stepped back and admired her via the mirror.  _She looks so pretty!_

"Alright go get dressed and then you're done."

She nodded and headed to the bathroom to change, when she came out she looked amazing.

"Where is this date going to be?" she asked while adjusting the pink top.

"At a restaurant in town, it's really nice. I've played there a few times." I said grinning in remembrance, they had paid well  _and_ I'd gotten a free dinner!

"Am I supposed to meet him there?" she looked at me in concern. I internally sighed as a look of great panic and nervousness took over her face and she began to pace.

"Yes, I will take you there.  _Evelyn bitte entspannen, Sie in Ordnung sein wird._ _Er mag dich, du hast nichts zu befürchten._ **(Google translate says: Evelyn please relax, you will be fine. He likes you, you have nothing to fear.)**  I hoped that my voice calmed her enough for her to be able to go on the date and enjoy it. I also didn't like it when anyone I cared about was this stressed. Evelyn sighed, and to my relief, nodded.

" _Danke_ " she smiled and unnecessarily flattened her already perfect top. "Let's go before I choke up again." I smiled at her and followed her out of the house.

"You'll be fine!"

Evelyn walked over to the car (I guessed it was another present from her father) and unlocked the doors. "You are going to have to tell me where this place is, I have no idea where I am going." She got in the car and started the engine.

"Of course, I couldn't have you getting lost now could I?" I said putting on my seatbelt. I'd already taken Ezio on a journey to the restaurant earlier that day so I hoped he remembered the way so he could escort Federico. It was forecasted to rain again but I hoped it wouldn't yet so the boys could make it there without getting caught in it. Once I was in the car she pulled out of the driveway.

"How far away is it?" she asked and as I looked through the window at the increasingly black clouds.

"About 5 minutes away, it's just off of the high street." I said still looking at the clouds and hoping it would just hold off.

"Alright, let's get going before the rain starts up," Evelyn said pulling into the road, "I wonder how Federico will act..." she said and I smiled as I realised she was more thinking to herself than speaking directly to me. However her sigh made me turn to look at her.

"I'm so nervous Ab." she said and I could see her hands visibly shaking on the steering wheel.

"I bet you a million, million pounds that he is too, its okay to feel a little nervous because you want to make a good expression. But as long as you be yourself nothing will go wrong." I said smiling at her and again trying to calm my cousin's nerves. Evelyn gave me a bewildered look.

"That flirt? Nervous?" she laughed though still a bit nervy. "So where exactly is this place?"

"I know it's hard to believe but it's true." I said smirking and thinking how flirty both the boys had been when they first arrived. And it was true, I heard him talking to Ezio earlier and as I passed the door I noticed that he had been pacing. "Just there, see it? It's the just down the street in front of us." I pointed to the building and saw Ezio and Federico arrive there too.  _Thank god Ezio remembered the way!_ Evelyn clutched the steering wheel even tighter as she slowed down and pulled into a free parking space and stopped the car. She got out and I could see a shade of red covering her cheeks. I looped an arm through Evelyn's and walked down the street with her towards the smiling men. Federico looked really handsome and I smiled even more when I saw Federico spot Evelyn. His eyes widened as he looked at her then smiled. He was definitely thinking about her.  _My work here is done._

Once Evelyn saw Federico, she tensed up. She held a grip on my arm and judging by the pressure she put on it she wasn't letting go anytime soon. "Abby...what if this goes wrong? What if I do...or say something wrong?" she asked her voice actually scared. Evelyn was never really one to get nervous, always having been confident, but one Christmas she had confessed to me that she had never had the courage to ask any boy on a date. I winced at the amount of pressure she was putting on my arm and looked at Ezio. He smiled and nodded and started to casually chat to Federico while we ducked down an alleyway briefly so I could give a last minute pep talk.

"Okay, firstly please let what I have been telling you for the past 2 hours sink in." I pleaded taking the hand that wasn't holding my arm in a death grip and squeezing it. "Stop thinking about things that could go wrong, they're not going to happen. Trust me. It's supposed to be fun and you are supposed to enjoy it. Now come on, stop over thinking things and enjoy your time together." Evelyn took a few deep breaths, staring at the hand that I held. She nodded and looked up at me.

"Alright, alright..." she withdrew her hand from mine and wrung them, "Let's get this over with," she smiled slightly. I internally sighed with relief when she let me have my arm back and tried not to rub it as we started again towards the boys. Once we were there I stepped away from Evie and stood next to Ezio who had done the same. Federico looked at her again and smiled at her again still looking at her in wonder. Both Ezio and I looked between the two and then at each other and smiled. We had done great to help this come together.

"Ciao Evelyn, you look so... beautiful." said Federico taking her hand in his. Evelyn smiled softly at Federico, a blush spreading across her face again.

"Thank you, Federico, I can say the same." she squeezed his hand and looked over to Ezio and me, smiling and mouthing a 'thank you' before she turned back to Federico and kissed his cheek gently. Federico smiled after that and then both me and Ezio decided without speaking to each other that it was time to go and leave them to it.

"Well we'd better go, it looks like it's about to rain. Have fun!" I said in a sing song voice nodding at them both in goodbye. Ezio did the same and we started to walk away leaving them to go inside the restaurant together. I'd already given Federico some money to pay for the meal so they were all set for the night. I knew I was going to get an excited text soon from Evie telling me what had gone on. Right on cue, droplets of rain started to fall with increasing intensity and in only a matter of seconds both me and Ezio were getting soaked.

"Well at least they got inside in time!" I called to Ezio over the noise of the rain hitting the ground.

"Do you want to get to cover?" he said walking along beside me as I headed away from the restaurant, I took my coat off and wrapped it around my cast making sure it didn't get wet.

"Nah it's alright, though we can if you want to." I said, I was too happy to care about my hair and it wasn't like I couldn't straighten it later.

"I am alright too." He said smiling and blinking the rain out of his eyes.

"Okay then, hey do you want by the sea? The tide is in but I kinds think it looks pretty when it's stormy." I asked him while moving some dripping hair out of my face. I don't know what it is but the crashing waves look better than a calm ocean.

" _Va bene_ , you lead the way." I grinned and turned right and the corner of the high street. There were lots of cars about where people were rushing to get home but we just quick walked down the street dodging people with umbrellas and those running with their jackets pulled over their heads.

...

The promenade was much quieter so we could just walk along at a leisurely pace. I was right, the tide was in and the waves were quite big some crashing against the concrete barrier. The rain was showing no sign of stopping anytime soon but I didn't mind, it meant everywhere was almost deserted. A little way down the promenade, away from the pier, I stopped and just looked out to sea, watching the waves and smelling the fresh salty air. Ezio stood beside me looking out to sea too but I occasionally spotted him looking at me.

"You were right, this is nice." Ezio said breaking the comfortable silence that had formed. I looked at him and smiled. Just then a huge wave collided with the concrete sending a lot of water up and straight over us!

"Oh my god!" I said squealing and looking down at my saturated clothes. I heard Ezio make a sound close to that soon and then we were both laughing so much.

"That was freezing!" I said still laughing. "You look soaked!"

"So do you." He said clutching my arms (including the one with a coat wrapped around the forearm) and laughing too. I looked down at his hands and then back up at him, a smile still on my face but I was a little shocked at the close contact. He looked down at me and smiled with his charming smile. We stood there looking at each other before his eyes drifted to my lips and back up to my eyes. He leaned down and I leaned up, our lips meeting halfway as a rumble of thunder echoed through the sky.


	12. Drying Off

The kiss itself was not very interesting, just a peck on the lips, but even so it felt really good. His lips tasted like salt and I could feel him smile under my lips. I pulled away and smiled back at him.

"You enjoyed that huh?" I said keeping my hand joined with his.

"Of course." He said lifted our hands so he could kiss mine. When he did I giggled, shocked at how Disney-like that looked. He chuckled before noticing the goose bumps that covered my skin and the fact that I was now visibly shaking with cold. The wind had picked up since the rain had stopped and the moisture on my skin meant that I felt absolutely bloody freezing. "You are so cold _cara_." He said taking my hand again in both of his own. I had never noticed before but his hands were so warm.

"Oh my god Ezio your hands are so freakin' warm! How is that possible?" I said marvelling at the warmth engulfing my frozen hand. I took my hand out of his touch for a moment touching his arm to see whether that was warm too. It was even though it was covered in cool rain drops. I looked up at him and saw he flinched a little at the contact but then smiled.

"Maybe my Mediterranean blood is to blame." He said with a grin.

"Maybe but either way you are like a giant hot water bottle!" I replied smiling back at him and letting him take my hand gently off of his arm and sandwich both my hands back in his, my teeth chattering as I shivered. "I think t-that we should go home now." I said trying to make myself stop shivering though I couldn't help it. He nodded and let go of my hands but wrapped a hand around me as we walked. I looked up at him, smiling and gladly using some of his body heat for myself.

"Don't use up all of it." He said with a chuckle. The rain had somewhat eased off but we were still drenched.

"I'll try not to." I replied with a smirk, my shivers becoming less pronounced. I leant my head back so it rested on his strong arm and we walked the rest of the way just talking about random stuff.

"Ezio?" I questioned when we were nearly home, stepping away from him so I could look at him properly.

" _Si_?"

"What are the girls in Florence like?" I just had to ask this since Ezio is such a cassanova! He just gave me a charming smile teamed with his flirty eyes.

"None are as beautiful as you."

"Ezio seriously when will you stop flirting! I bet you've said that to every girl you've courted." I said smirking at him and rolling my eyes, not impressed though it was Ezio who ended up grinning when he noticed the blush that had appeared on my cheeks.

"Ah but Abby, your cheeks tell a different tale." He said lifting his hand and stroking one of them.

"Shut up smart arse." I said crossing my arms as I stepped in front of him.

"That mouth of yours is so sharp it could be used as a weapon on its own." He said smiling and taking a step towards me and uncrossing my arms.

"Really?" I said smiling too when he moved his arms to my waist.

" _Si_  but I think I know a way to stop it." He said not hiding the hint very well.

"Like I don't know where this is going-" I said a little sarcastically before Ezio leant down and kissed me again. The kiss this time was more passionate but still sweeter than candyfloss. When we broke apart we both grinned with equal brightness.

"You're not very subtle Ezio."

"I did not think I needed to be." he replied brushing my wet fringe out of my face. "I like your hair wavy, it looks nicer."

"Wavy? Don't you mean frizzy? When I get home it is going to dry out and be out here!" I said laughing and holding my hands quite a bit from my head. It did get like that and sometimes I thought I could just dress up in flares and go as someone from the 70s who has an afro.

"I doubt it would get that big."

"Maybe not but it still comes close when it is hot and humid. Come on let's go inside and see if my exaggeration is proved correct." Taking his hand and leading him around the corner and down the street to the house.

...

"Wow!" said Ben, stifling a laugh as we both stepped into the house and I removed the coat from over my cast. My arm was slightly damp but other than that the coat had done a pretty good job.

"Yeah yeah, laugh all you want. I left my bag and umbrella at Evelyn's." I said peeling off my shoes and placing them near the radiator to dry. I was about to step into the living room when I heard Ben clear his throat.

"What?" I said spinning around and crossing my arms. I needed coffee and I guessed that Ezio did too.

"You told me that Evelyn and Federico's date started at half six."

"And?" I said wanting him to get to the point because I WANTED COFFEE!

"It's now quarter past seven."

"And?"

Ezio was just looking at us while I was starting to get a little impatient with Ben. His grin told me he was enjoying it.

"It doesn't take you forty-five minutes to walk from the high street to here so what were you doing for the rest of the time?" he asked finally giving me something to answer to. He was, however, wearing a look of mischief on his face so I knew he was up to something.

"I-"

" _We_  were taking our time." Ezio said standing next to me and wrapping a hand around my waist. Ben grinned as he got the hint.

"Ah okay, that explains that." He said that but he kinda looked like he already knew.  _I will be having a word with Ben later!_

"Okay now can I please get my coffee now?"

"No, you need to have a shower first."

"What?!" I said completely shocked, I needed coffee and he had the nerve to deny me it.

"Off you go." He said grinning and jerking his head towards the stairs.

"Uh no I need-"

"A shower." Ben finished for me.

"Yes but -"

"Who's the oldest out of us?" he said playing  _that_  card. My mouth gaped open, he hadn't used that since I was thirteen.

"Don't-"

"Who?"

I looked at Ezio pleadingly, he just smiled and shook his head. He was definitely enjoying this. I huffed and elbowed him. He just chuckled.

"Who?" Ben repeated after my silence.

"You." I said sighing defeatedly. I never liked when he did this.

"Good so go have a shower."

"I hate you!" I said like I always did when in those situations.

"Love you too sis." He called as I trudged up the stairs.

**...**

After having my involuntary shower, I was actually allowed to have my coffee. After drinking it and glaring at Ben until he felt uncomfortable (a suitable form of revenge) I went upstairs to hide in my music room and use my guitar, which I had been neglecting, and let out some of the happiness I was feeling.

It's actually pretty funny that I went up there to escape from everything yet a few minutes later everyone is standing in the room listening to me play!  _Oh well, at least I know they like it!_  After every song they gave me applause and asked me questions about the guitar and modern music in general which I was happy to answer. They were all standing as a family and that made me and Ben smile -they all looked so happy. This happy family like moment prompted Ben to reach over and ruffle my recently straightened hair.

"Hey!" I said slapping his hand away playfully and shoving him off of his chair and laughing. He just gave me the evils and stood up rolling up his imaginary sleeves.

"Oh it's on!" he said taking the guitar out of my hands and placing it down before messing up my hair and tickling me like we used to do ages ago.

"Noooo please hahaha stop!" I said in between giggles and breaths of air. I was kicking my legs but it was no use. "Ezio haha help me!" I yelped before Ben covered my mouth with his hand. I licked it and made him take it off before the grinning Ezio pulled Ben away from me.

"Thanks." I said wiping tears of laughter from my eyes before Ezio helped me up. "Okay who wants something to eat?"

Everyone was still smiling and happily agreed.

**...**

As my brother and I sat eating our tea in the living room, I decided to question his look of knowledge from earlier.

"Ben?" I said after swallowing my last bite.

"What?"

"When Ezio and I came in and he..." I looked at the door making sure it was closed before I continued. "Told you, why did you look like you already knew?"

"Uhhh I um didn't look like that!" he said trying to deny it. I rolled my eyes.

"Did Ezio tell you before that he liked me?"

"Yes but-"

"But what?"

"I may have encouraged him to... express his feelings for you." He said looking sheepishly down at his dinner.

"You... you set us up?!" I said annoyed. He had set me up before and it had always turned out wrong.

"Abby don't take it like tha-"

"I bloody will take it like that because I know why you did it!" I said and I think he knew full well what I meant, Ezio being his favourite video character and all.

"Abby-"

"Why do you interfere with things that are none of your business?"

"Abby-"

"Ugh just don't!"

"So you're saying you don't love him?"

"I do but it's just that I would prefer if he had truly done that after making his own mind up, not being persuaded to by somebody else." I said my tone a little calmer as I realised that maybe what he did wasn't so bad after all.

"But I did  _bella_ ," said Ezio from behind me. "I asked your  _fratello_  whether I should do it and he said yes. He did not influence me to do it, he just told me that it was the right moment to do so."

"So what you did was your own idea?" I said looking back at him.

"Yes." He said placing a hand on my shoulder and rubbing it.

I don't know why but I did a little aw and looked up at his deep brown eyes. Ben looked between the both of us and smiled.

"I think I should go tell everyone the good news." He said retreating from the room and going into the dining room with a smile.

"Should we hold hands or something to prove it?" I asked standing up and moving next to him.

"I think I have a better idea." He said smiling and tilting my head up with his finger. I smiled as I heard voices coming closer to the living room.

"Go on then." I said feeling his breath lightly on my face.

"With pleasure" he said before we locked lips. I could hear gasps from the whole family before a stunned silent. We smiled in our kiss and I swear I heard a chuckle from Giovanni.

"At least they look good together." I heard Claudia say before we both broke apart and grinned.

" _Si_ " said Federico agreeing and smiling at us both. I looked over to Giovanni (who I was most nervous about) and Maria. Maria was looking a little stunned but to my surprise Giovanni was looking between us both and grinning.

"So you two finally got together." Was all he said.


	13. IMPORTANT NOTE

**IMPORTANT NOTE:**

**THIS STORY WILL NOT BE UPDATED HERE ANYMORE.**

**THIS IS PURELY AS I AM RE-WRITING IT UNDER A NEW TITLE.**

**PLEASE GO AND READ MALFUNCTION**


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